Electronic Monitoring of Offenders

Esther McVey Excerpts

Tuesday 27th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Catherine McKinnell]

The right hon. Lady is absolutely right. Justice Transcribe, which she refers to, has supported probation officers to reduce their workload when it comes to the transcribing of notes; obviously, they must keep careful records, and this system is inevitably helping to manage workloads. She is right that probation officers do a vital job, and I thank them for the work that they are doing today and every day to keep the public safe and manage offenders in the community. In April, we secured the biggest probation pay increase in over a decade, and the current offer increases that by a minimum of 5%. We want to increase our recruitment of probation officers, so hon. Members should encourage people to join the service. We also want to retain our brilliant probation officers, and we are continuing in discussions with them to that end.

[Esther McVey (Tatton) (Con)]

Can the Minister confirm that criminals will not get tagged if they are classed as homeless? At the weekend, it was revealed that prisoners released early by this Government were given tents because there was no accommodation for them. So yes or no—will prisoners who are released and given a tent be tagged? Or will they be roaming the streets without any way of locating them, free to commit more crime?

[Catherine McKinnell]

I agree with the right hon. Lady that it is completely unacceptable for a prisoner to be released with a tent. That is not Government policy, and it is not something that we want to see. That is why we are working at pace to improve the current homelessness situation that we inherited from the previous Government, to make sure that nobody, including prison leavers, leaves prison homeless or has to live homeless.