Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will publish the number of outstanding electronic monitoring visits in need of completion by Serco in each of the past 12 months.

Releasing information on financial penalties would prejudice, or would likely prejudice, Serco Group Limited’s commercial interests.

To provide the number of outstanding monitoring visits in need of completion by Serco in each of the past 12 months would be of disproportionate cost.

While the backlog of outstanding visits has been significantly reduced, Serco’s overall performance remains below acceptable levels. We continue to hold them to account for that and will not hesitate to impose further financial penalties where necessary.

The performance requirements are detailed within the Key Performance Indicators in the Field and Monitoring Service contract, and these are available on Contracts Finders under Schedule 3 of the contract: Electronic Monitoring Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) - Contracts Finder. Whilst we acknowledge that performance has been unacceptable, the Ministry of Justice continues to hold Serco to account for poor performance and we are overseeing service improvements.

During the procurement of the Field and Monitoring Service contract, all suppliers were required to provide details of their safeguarding processes, and these were assessed as part of the evaluation process. The contract outlines the ongoing audit rights that allow the Ministry of Justice to review all processes. There is an annual assurance test completed by the contract management team to ensure that what suppliers have outlined is being adhered to, and the next assurance is scheduled to be carried out in July 2025.

The Field and Monitoring Service contract is already published and is available on Contracts Finder: Electronic Monitoring Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) - Contracts Finder. Specifically, please refer to the schedules referenced Core Terms and Schedule 3 (Performance).