Question
Over 5,000 offenders went unmonitored in the first half of this year due to serious delays in the tagging system, and in the year to March, an average of 300 people per week were released from prison with no fixed address, making it incredibly difficult to ensure that offenders are tagged and then managed in the community. That adds to the strain on both the Probation Service and the police, who are using scarce resources to manage an increasingly large caseload and keep victims safe. The Government have repeatedly promised that they will not jeopardise public safety, but many victims following the stories over the weekend, especially after Mark Rowley’s comments, will struggle to believe them. Will the Government listen to the calls of the Victims’ Commissioner to tag individuals at the gate and roll that out to every prison by January? We also welcomed the Government’s announcement to introduce restriction zones for offenders, which limits the movement for perpetrators rather than victims, but the effectiveness of those zones will require offenders to be properly monitored and any breaches to be addressed without delay. Is the Minister confident that there are enough resources to operate restriction zones effectively, and when will we see a national roll-out of this important measure?
Answer
The hon. Lady makes a number of thoughtful and helpful contributions. It is very important that housing and homelessness are tackled among the prison leaver population, to ensure that they have the opportunity to build a life and not reoffend, and we will work with local authorities as effectively as possible to ensure that prisoners are not at risk of becoming homeless. It is a priority of this Prime Minister and this Government to tackle homelessness across the board, which was reinforced by the announcement yesterday of £874 million of priority funding to tackle homelessness. We are already extending the period by which collaboration must happen between the prison and probation unit and local authorities, so that they have the maximum period possible to put in place arrangements that ensure victims’ safety and the public’s safety. The hon. Member rightly raised tagging at source, which we have had a very successful pilot of. This has not been done previously by any Government. We recognise it as an opportunity to really improve the work that is happening, and we are working at pace to ramp up tagging at source. She also raised the restriction zones. I can only reiterate that these are world-leading measures we are putting in place. We are not just fixing the mess that we inherited but working at pace to make this system work in the interests of victims and the public, and creating a society that everyone can contribute to.13% point-scoring 33% vibes
Verdict: AMBER (38/100)
The reply directly addresses whether the government will adopt tagging of offenders on release, citing a successful pilot and a commitment to work at pace to expand it. It gives no specific January date and does not confirm roll-out to every prison, so the timing and scope the question asked about remain open. It does not address whether there are sufficient resources to run the restriction zones, and it mentions extending the collaboration period between prisons, probation and local authorities without giving any national roll-out timeline. Because most of the answer is hedged, the person who asked would likely need to submit a follow-up for specifics.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will the Government adopt the Victims' Commissioner's call to tag offenders at the prison gate on release. | Addressed | Direct | The reply names tagging at source, cites a successful pilot, and commits that the government is working at pace to ramp it up, which answers whether the government will adopt the call to tag offenders on release from prison. |
| Will the Government roll out tagging at the gate to every prison by January. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply commits to ramping up tagging at source 'at pace' but gives no January date and does not confirm roll-out to every prison, so the specific timing and scope asked about are left unanswered. |
| Is the Minister confident that there are sufficient resources to operate restriction zones effectively. | Not Addressed | Generic | Nothing in the reply addresses whether there are sufficient resources to operate restriction zones; the 'world-leading measures' line only restates the policy without speaking to resourcing or confidence. |
| When will restriction zones be rolled out nationally. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply mentions extending the collaboration period between prison/probation and local authorities to put arrangements in place for victims' and public safety, which bears on implementation, but it gives no timeline or date for national roll-out. |