Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to issue electronic bracelets to people breaking quarantine restrictions in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The government uses electronic monitoring, tagging technology, where a requirement such as a curfew or exclusion zone is imposed by the court as part of a community order or suspended sentence order or to support court imposed Bail. The technology is also imposed on some eligible offenders on release from custody.

Parliament has provided the courts with the full range of sentencing powers to deal effectively with offenders who break social distancing rules. These range from fines to custodial sentences for more serious offences where coronavirus is used to threaten others. We have already seen significant sentences imposed on those using coronavirus as a threat. There are currently no plans in place to use electronic monitoring technology to monitor compliance with the Covid-19 regulations for the general public.