Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many delays there have been in fitting sobriety tags longer than (a) one, (b) seven, (c) 14 and (d) 28 days in each of the last 12 months.
The table below illustrates the proportional duration of fitting alcohol orders by month of order start date, from November 2023 to October 2024. This includes both AAMR tag and AML tag.
Up until May 2024, the electronic monitoring service was delivered by Capita. Serco took on the service on 1 May 2024. Provider performance was poor either side of the transfer and there has been a backlog of visits under Serco.
Ministers have been clear that Serco’s performance has been unacceptable and contractual penalties have been levied against them as a result.
Frequency Distribution of Durations of Tag Fit Time for Alcohol Tags by Month (November 2023 – October 2024)
| Days | |||||
Date | 1 day or less | 2 to 7 days | 8 to 14 days | 15 to 28 days | 28 days+ |
|
Nov 23 | 14% | 48% | 16% | 12% | 9% |
|
Dec 23 | 21% | 39% | 11% | 11% | 18% |
|
Jan 24 | 16% | 37% | 8% | 14% | 25% |
|
Feb 24 | 25% | 35% | 8% | 14% | 19% |
|
Mar 24 | 19% | 33% | 12% | 22% | 14% |
|
Apr 24 | 22% | 35% | 10% | 14% | 19% |
|
May 24 | 13% | 26% | 10% | 25% | 25% |
|
Jun 24 | 13% | 34% | 17% | 19% | 17% |
|
Jul 24 | 22% | 42% | 15% | 14% | 8% |
|
Aug 24 | 23% | 39% | 13% | 14% | 10% |
|
Sep 24 | 21% | 32% | 16% | 19% | 11% |
|
Oct 24 | 29% | 42% | 15% | 14% | 1% |
|
Proportion | 20% | 36% | 13% | 16% | 15% |
|
Notes
These figures are drawn from administrative data systems provided by contractors. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent.
These figures exclude those who had not had a tag fitted at the point the underlying files were generated. An individual subject to an AM order may not have a tag fitted for a number of reasons, including being recalled.
The tag fit time has been derived by subtracting the first date the data appears as tagged on the caseload file, as compared to the order start date. Where AMS is notified late of an order, the difference between the order start date and the date the tag is fitted is not an accurate reflection of contractor performance.
Data provided for the period November 2023 to October 2024 as this represents the latest available data.
Monitored individuals are unique individuals with a live EM order and with an alcohol device (AAMR or AML) fitted.
Alcohol monitoring cannot be used for those under 18.