Oral Answers to Questions

Bell Ribeiro-Addy Excerpts

Tuesday 10th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris]

The hon. Lady will have heard me say two things in this session: first, that there is for the first time a presumption on tagging and, secondly, that we will release full data so that Parliament can scrutinise it in the normal way. I suggest that she waits for that release.

[Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill) (Lab)]

T3. In response to written questions last month, Ministers claimed that Serco has met every single key performance indicator since March, yet the Department’s figures from 30 September show that 15% of those with a monitoring order had no tag fitted, and that 1,309 had been out of contact for 28 days or more. The Department will not disclose what penalties Serco has paid, but has agreed £48 million in extra payments. With up to 22,000 more people due to be tagged next year, how is that value for money? When will the Department do away with its poorer performing contractors?

[Catherine McKinnell]

As my hon. Friend will know, the contract with Serco was entered into by the previous Government. Serco’s KPI measures include whether installation visits take place within contractual timescales, but being recorded without a tag does not necessarily indicate failure; it may be that the individual has returned to prison, or they may still remain within the installation window. That is why we regularly publish the statistics to ensure that they accurately reflect the situation. I will take her other points on board.