Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people breached tagging orders by curfew type in each year since 2018.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Data showing the number of defendants and offenders given new electronically monitored orders by cohort and in total, since April 2017, is available in Table 1.2 of the Data Tables accompanying the most recent Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electronic-monitoring-statistics-publication-march-2024.
The department is currently unable to provide data on the number of individuals who have breached an order each year since 2018 due to non-compliance with an electronically monitored curfew because it is not held.
Courts will decide whether a defendant (for court bail) or, in some cases, an offender serving a community sentence (community order, suspended sentence order, youth rehabilitation order) are in breach of an order that includes electronically monitored compliance with a condition or requirement. In determining whether a breach or the order has occurred they may take into account a number of factors, not exclusively the electronically monitored requirement. Therefore, we are unable to reliably collect data identifying the reason for breach in some of these cases and whether this was exclusively as a result of non-compliance with a curfew requirement.
Similarly, for offenders on post-custody licence, where probation is alerted to a non-compliance with an electronically monitored condition of their licence, they may consider a number of factors, including a reasonable excuse, such as a hospital admission, and whether there is a risk to the public indicated by additional factors. Therefore, when a decision is made to recall an offender to custody for a breach of licence conditions, the electronically monitored condition may be just one factor.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were given tagging orders in each year since 2018.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Data showing the number of defendants and offenders given new electronically monitored orders by cohort and in total, since April 2017, is available in Table 1.2 of the Data Tables accompanying the most recent Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electronic-monitoring-statistics-publication-march-2024.
The department is currently unable to provide data on the number of individuals who have breached an order each year since 2018 due to non-compliance with an electronically monitored curfew because it is not held.
Courts will decide whether a defendant (for court bail) or, in some cases, an offender serving a community sentence (community order, suspended sentence order, youth rehabilitation order) are in breach of an order that includes electronically monitored compliance with a condition or requirement. In determining whether a breach or the order has occurred they may take into account a number of factors, not exclusively the electronically monitored requirement. Therefore, we are unable to reliably collect data identifying the reason for breach in some of these cases and whether this was exclusively as a result of non-compliance with a curfew requirement.
Similarly, for offenders on post-custody licence, where probation is alerted to a non-compliance with an electronically monitored condition of their licence, they may consider a number of factors, including a reasonable excuse, such as a hospital admission, and whether there is a risk to the public indicated by additional factors. Therefore, when a decision is made to recall an offender to custody for a breach of licence conditions, the electronically monitored condition may be just one factor.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of sobriety tagging schemes, particularly for those convicted of serious assaults or domestic violence where alcohol was a factor.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In advance of legislating for the introduction of the Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement (AAMR) for community based sentences to tackle alcohol related offending, the Government contributed to funding for two pilots to ensure robust evaluation of the effectiveness of the measure. The pilots were carried out in London and in the North East of England and findings informed the introduction of AAMR in 2020. AAMR enables courts to impose an alcohol ban of up to 120 days on adult offenders who are not alcohol dependent, compliance is monitored using an alcohol tag.
Alcohol monitoring on licence was introduced in 2021 and enables probation to include an additional licence condition banning or restricting the consumption of alcohol, where a criminogenic need related to alcohol misuse is identified as an increase to risk. Funding has been allocated for evaluation of the processes, impact and value for money. A process and interim impact evaluation are expected to be published by the end of 2025. A full reoffending analysis and value-for-money assessment are expected by the end of 2026.
Evaluations published to date can be accessed via the links below:
MOPAC’s AAMR Final Impact Evaluation Report, December 2020 - aamr_final_impact_report_100521.pdf (london.gov.uk).
Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement: A review of process and performance from Year 2, July 2018 - aamr_final_process_performance_y2_report_final.pdf (london.gov.uk).
Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement The pan London roll out: A review of process and performance from year 1, July 2017 - AAMR Interim Report (london.gov.uk).
Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement: South London Pilot Indicative Impact Report, April 2017 - Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement (london.gov.uk).
HNLY Pilot Process Evaluation Report, October 2019 - Evaluation-of-the-AAMR-tagging-pilot.pdf (northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk).
The AAMR pilot in the North-East focused on domestic abuse perpetrators, the process evaluation shows that 31% of wearers were convicted of a domestic violence offence. Compliance with the alcohol ban shows that the devices did not register a tamper or alcohol alert on 97.4% of the days worn. The impact evaluation (including for reoffending) is underway for this pilot and is also intended to be published.
The evaluations to date and published statistics have shown a strong uptake of alcohol monitoring by courts and probation. The number of individuals fitted with an alcohol monitoring (AM) device as at 31 March 2024 was 2,862, a 27% increase over the previous 12 months. There were 12,506 new alcohol monitoring orders imposed across England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2024. Overall, 24,305 new alcohol monitoring orders have been imposed since their introduction against an ambition of 12,000 by 2025 and compliance with the alcohol ban has remained consistent at over 97% for the total of days monitored. Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication, March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of sobriety tagging schemes.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In advance of legislating for the introduction of the Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement (AAMR) for community based sentences to tackle alcohol related offending, the Government contributed to funding for two pilots to ensure robust evaluation of the effectiveness of the measure. The pilots were carried out in London and in the North East of England and findings informed the introduction of AAMR in 2020. AAMR enables courts to impose an alcohol ban of up to 120 days on adult offenders who are not alcohol dependent, compliance is monitored using an alcohol tag.
Alcohol monitoring on licence was introduced in 2021 and enables probation to include an additional licence condition banning or restricting the consumption of alcohol, where a criminogenic need related to alcohol misuse is identified as an increase to risk. Funding has been allocated for evaluation of the processes, impact and value for money. A process and interim impact evaluation are expected to be published by the end of 2025. A full reoffending analysis and value-for-money assessment are expected by the end of 2026.
Evaluations published to date can be accessed via the links below:
MOPAC’s AAMR Final Impact Evaluation Report, December 2020 - aamr_final_impact_report_100521.pdf (london.gov.uk).
Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement: A review of process and performance from Year 2, July 2018 - aamr_final_process_performance_y2_report_final.pdf (london.gov.uk).
Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement The pan London roll out: A review of process and performance from year 1, July 2017 - AAMR Interim Report (london.gov.uk).
Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement: South London Pilot Indicative Impact Report, April 2017 - Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement (london.gov.uk).
HNLY Pilot Process Evaluation Report, October 2019 - Evaluation-of-the-AAMR-tagging-pilot.pdf (northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk).
The AAMR pilot in the North-East focused on domestic abuse perpetrators, the process evaluation shows that 31% of wearers were convicted of a domestic violence offence. Compliance with the alcohol ban shows that the devices did not register a tamper or alcohol alert on 97.4% of the days worn. The impact evaluation (including for reoffending) is underway for this pilot and is also intended to be published.
The evaluations to date and published statistics have shown a strong uptake of alcohol monitoring by courts and probation. The number of individuals fitted with an alcohol monitoring (AM) device as at 31 March 2024 was 2,862, a 27% increase over the previous 12 months. There were 12,506 new alcohol monitoring orders imposed across England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2024. Overall, 24,305 new alcohol monitoring orders have been imposed since their introduction against an ambition of 12,000 by 2025 and compliance with the alcohol ban has remained consistent at over 97% for the total of days monitored. Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication, March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of his Department's contract with Serco for electronic monitoring on the (a) physical and (b) mental wellbeing of people who will be monitored; and what estimate he has made of the number of people monitored under that contract.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The priority when it comes to electronic monitoring is public protection, hence why they can be accompanied by tough curfews and exclusion zones. However, Serco’s health and safety policy ensures that the physical and mental wellbeing of those subject to electronic monitoring is also regarded. Serco will conduct wellbeing visits, direct those with an electronic monitoring requirement to organisations offering advice and support where necessary and pay due regard to an individual’s health considerations during the installation of equipment and subsequent monitoring of requirements. Serco’s approach was assessed in their tender response and their performance of this will be assessed and reviewed as part of overall contract management.
We have made sufficient funds available to increase the number of defendants and offenders subject to electronic monitoring at any one time to 25,000 by March 2025. This includes doubling the number of GPS tags available to courts for community orders and suspended sentences to support robust community sentences and supervision.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce reoffending.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Over the last 10 years, overall proven re-offending has decreased from 30.9 per cent (2009-10) to 25.6 per cent (2019-20).
In the 2021 Prisons Strategy White Paper, we set out ambitious cross-government plans to tackle re-offending issues. We are investing £550 million in services over the Spending Review period to get offenders into skills training, work and stable accommodation. The White Paper was published alongside the Government’s 10-Year Drug Strategy, and we are investing an additional £120 million to tackle substance misuse.
We are also strengthening the supervision and monitoring of offenders in the community by:
We are also giving £300 million of funding over the Spending Review period to youth offending teams in England and Wales – the largest investment in youth justice in a generation.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a harm reduction approach to (a) alcohol and (b) other substances misuse for people in the criminal justice system.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We are taking a range of approaches to support people with a substance misuse need, as set out in our ambitious and evidence-based Drugs Strategy – a landmark 10-year plan to work across Government to address illegal drug use, underpinned by a record investment of nearly £900 million. Our goal is to ensure that appropriate and high-quality treatment is available to all offenders with an addiction, which includes some harm reduction approaches – however we must also enable offenders to focus on recovery by taking a zero- tolerance approach to drugs, with consequences for those who breach this.
To achieve this we are expanding mandatory and voluntary testing regimes in prison, expanding the use of Incentivised Substance Free Living units, and Health and Justice coordinators to support people to engage with community treatment providers before they are released. For those on community sentences, we will increase the use of intensive drug and alcohol rehabilitation requirements. We are also expanding the use of GPS-enabled and alcohol abstinence-monitoring electronic tagging, to help offenders in the community stay off alcohol.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the finding in the report of the National Audit Office on Electronic monitoring – a progress update, HC 62 of Session 2022-23, published on 8 June 2022, that HMPPS is not providing stakeholders with location monitoring data in line with its original aims, limiting its added value for supervising offenders and protecting the public, whether his Department is taking steps to address that issue.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
In 2021, HMPPS took a decision to cancel the development of a new Electronic Monitoring case management system and stakeholder portal because the project was late and over budget. This left stakeholders without access to GPS tag-generated location monitoring data in line with the Department’s original aims. HMPPS have developed new reporting tools for location monitoring which will address many of the data reporting features that were to form part of the capability of the cancelled investment of the user portal for electronic monitoring information. The NAO reports states that the optimal decision was made to cancel the investment and we have identified innovative, alternative ways to deliver the planned benefits.
Acquisitive crime offenders:
Probation practitioners can access a portal that provides location monitoring data for people on probation in this cohort. This tool is currently available in 19 police force areas. This provides direct access to trail monitoring data, and for instance enables them to plot points of interest such as premises where alcohol is available.
Participating police force areas receive crime mapping reports showing any qualified matches against crime data submitted by the force. Forces can make additional requests for information on acquisitive crime tags.
Other GPS tagged offenders:
Probation practitioners can request trail monitoring data for anyone on a GPS tag.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many repeat offenders of each type in each (a) region and (b) local justice area have been given non-custodial sentences after committing more than three of the same type of offence.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending to keep our communities safe. Measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill, currently before Parliament, take a targeted approach so that the most serious and dangerous offenders are kept in prison for longer, while tougher and more effective community sentences tackle the underlying causes of criminal behaviour and improve the supervision and rehabilitation of offenders in the community.
Beyond the Bill, and as set out in the Beating Crime Plan and the Prisons Strategy White Paper, the Government is delivering a package of measures to tackle repeat offending. We have implemented the revised Integrated Offender Management Strategy; we are increasing drug treatment, the proportion of prison leavers into jobs and improving access to accommodation; and we are exploring innovative uses of electronic monitoring through the acquisitive crime GPS tagging project, the roll-out of the Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirement, and the introduction of Alcohol Monitoring on Licence.
Sentencing in individual cases is entirely a matter for our independent courts, taking into account all the circumstances of each case. Section 65 of the Sentencing Code provides that, when considering the seriousness of an offence, the court is required to treat each relevant previous conviction as an aggravating factor. This principle is also reflected in the Sentencing Council’s General guideline: overarching principles.
The number of offenders who received a non-custodial sentence on their last sentencing occasion for an offence, in each year, after committing more than three offences of the same type, can be viewed in the attached response tables.
The data has been separated for each offence type and by region for the years 2016-2020. This data is not available by local justice area.
The attached tables are taken from offence data published on the Police National Computer. They do not include offences committed outside England and Wales.
To note:
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2022 to Question 133193, on Offenders: Alcoholic Drinks, what plans his Department has to evaluate the short- and long-term effects of the sobriety tagging scheme on (a) levels of alcohol consumption and (b) the wellbeing of offenders.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Prior to the introduction of the Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirement (AAMR), as required by the legislation, the department supported two pilots testing the option for community orders and suspended sentence orders. Both pilots undertook to evaluate the requirement and publish their findings, which can be found at the following links:
https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/aamr_final_impact_report_100521.pdf.
https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/aamr_final_process_performance_y2_report_final.pdf.
https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/annex_1_-_aamr_early_impact_report_210417.pdf.
https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/aamr_final.pdf.
These findings touched on a number of areas including compliance and wellbeing and informed the introduction of AAMR. I am pleased to report that compliance with alcohol bans has remained at over 97% which is in line with the pilots. We have published statistics regarding take up and compliance with AAMR and will continue to do so, these can be found at the following links:
We are incorporating evaluation into all electronic monitoring expansion projects, in order to build the evidence base for most effective use, and this will include alcohol monitoring on licence.