Ministers announce huge expansion of electronic tagging in England and Wales

"Tens of thousands of offenders will be released from prisons in England and Wales wearing tags that track their location in real time as part of the biggest expansion of electronic tagging in British history. The prisons minister, James Timpson, said a new pilot scheme would track domestic abusers and stalkers, alerting authorities if they approached their victims, while other offenders will wear geolocation tags that will enable probation officers to track their live location."

"Under the plans, the vast majority of ex-offenders leaving prison will be tagged under a presumption as part of intensive supervision with the Probation Service, but probation officers will have fewer meetings with low-risk prisoners to focus on the most prolific and high-risk offenders such as terrorists, murderers and prolific sex offenders."

"Last year an official watchdog warned that the probation service had too few staff with too little experience and training, which left members of the public at risk. The public accounts committee found that longstanding staff shortages had left probation staff dealing with excessive and unmanageable workloads, with officers working at 126% of capacity for several years in some areas."

England and Wales are launching the biggest electronic tagging expansion in British history, with tens of thousands of released prisoners wearing real-time location tracking devices. The scheme includes specialized tags for domestic abusers and stalkers that alert authorities if they approach victims, while other offenders wear geolocation tags monitored by probation officers. Most ex-offenders will be tagged under presumption as part of intensive supervision, allowing probation staff to concentrate on high-risk individuals including terrorists, murderers, and prolific sex offenders. This initiative responds to severe prison overcrowding that forced emergency early release of approximately 40,000 prisoners over twelve months in 2024. However, the probation service faces significant challenges, including chronic staff shortages, excessive workloads at 126% capacity in some areas, and poor performance metrics, with only 26% of service targets met in 2024-25.

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