Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the procurement process for the electronic tagging contract complied with Cabinet Office procedures on openness and transparency.

The contracts have not yet been awarded. An announcement was made on 15^th July.

Yes we comply with the OJEU / EU procurement rules as well as cabinet office processes.

The new electronic monitoring service has not been subject to a pilot as in the first instance we need to ensure continuity of service. However, there will be a significant period of testing and validation for the new system before introduction. There is also a robust programme of testing for the new tags themselves, and we will have to be satisfied that they meet our standards before they are introduced on the new platform.

Electronic monitoring using GPS was piloted in three probation areas in 2004 to 2005 and the evaluation found qualitative evidence to show that it:

o acted as a deterrent because offenders thought they would be caught if they were to reoffend;

o was a constant reminder which prompted offenders to ‘think twice' when a criminal opportunity presented itself and gave them the spur they needed to walk away;

o provided offenders with renewed determination to get their lives back together after a period of incarceration; and

o was perceived by offenders to help stop wrongful identification for crimes they hadn't done.