Question
Serco continues to be awarded lucrative Government contracts despite repeated failures, while probation officers have been pushed to breaking point. Will the Minister commit to bringing back in-house electronic tagging and probation services, as I proposed in my amendment to the Bill that became the Sentencing Act 2026, so that we are not rewarding private profit over public safety?
Answer
The contract with Serco was signed by the Conservative party, and its performance did not originally meet expectations, but we have focused on driving rapid improvement and ensuring that we turn that failing performance around, so that it is meeting contractual expectations and working with us at pace to make the improvements that we want to see in our system. We will continue to keep all these matters under review, as we would with any contract that the Government have entered into.14% point-scoring
Verdict: RED (22/100)
The reply discusses the performance of the Serco electronic tagging contract but does not say whether the Government will bring tagging back in-house. Its only forward-looking statement is that it will 'keep these matters under review', and it gives no reason for not committing. Probation services are not mentioned at all, so the reply is mostly hedged and the questioner would likely need to ask again for a clear answer.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will the Government commit to bringing electronic tagging and probation services back in-house? | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply engages with the Serco electronic tagging contract and its performance, but never says whether the Government will bring tagging or probation back in-house. Its only forward-looking statement is that it will 'keep all these matters under review', which is noncommittal, and it gives no reason for not committing. Probation services are not mentioned at all. |