Electronic monitoring system is not working as intended, creating public protection risks, says new NAO report
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Since 2021, HMPPS has rapidly expanded electronic
monitoring, now tagging around 29,000 people
but thousands of individuals may not be actively monitored
despite having a tagging requirement.1 Demand is set to
rise significantly from September 2026 to help ease the prison
capacity crisis making it vital that the current issues
with the system are addressed.
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Uncertainty over how many people are not being monitored, combined with wider inefficiencies in the Ministry of Justice's electronic monitoring service, is wasting resources and increasing public protection risks. The National Audit Office says this raises concerns about plans to expand a system that has grown quickly but is not yet working effectively. Electronic monitoring, or tagging', uses technology to remotely monitor a person's location and compliance with court requirements. In September 2025, the MoJ announced plans to significantly expand electronic monitoring as part of the Sentencing Act 2026, which aims to ease prison pressures by managing more offenders in the community. But poor early performance from one of its external contractors, Serco, meant that between August 2024 and July 2025, individuals were not tagged on time and officials were not notified of potential breaches in a timely manner.2 During this period, the backlog of visits to fit, check or remove tags increased significantly to a peak of 7,000 visits in October 2024 - before returning to fewer than 400 in November 2024. HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has worked with Serco to improve performance and reduce backlogs in fitting tags. But supplier performance improvements alone are not sufficient to ensure the wider system is working as intended. The number of unmonitored individuals is also a concern: as of March 2026, HMPPS was reviewing around 8,900 cases - 24% of those required to be tagged - to determine the number of unmonitored cases.3 Police and probation officers often lack information or capacity to respond quickly to breaches. Inefficiencies in the system and a lack of prioritisation add to this challenge, with high volumes of alerts and breach notifications generating significant work with limited value. For example, where outcomes are recorded, nearly half result in no further action'. On visits, the NAO observed that both serious and minor breaches were often treated in the same way. There is also no shared understanding of what a more responsive electronic monitoring system should look like or how it should be measured. For example, Serco's contract does not require it to provide officials with details of an individual's breach until 29 to 53 hours after it occurs. The wider system is inefficient, with many errors in tagging orders and a low success rate for tagging people, causing delays in getting individuals tagged. In February 2026, although Serco met its 95% timeliness target for tag-fitting visits, it was only successful in fitting tags on 62% of the individuals it visited within its two attempts. In September 2025, the MoJ estimated that up to 22,000 additional people will need to be tagged per year from 2027. To deliver this increase, HMPPS is aiming to stabilise the service, build the foundations to scale up activity and transform the programme, including through adopting new technology and data. The government has allocated up to £175 million to fund the expansion over the 2026-2029 spending review period, which includes developing a series of pilots. For example, it plans to strengthen management of domestic abuse offenders through tags that can monitor their proximity to their victim. However, key elements of the system are not yet working effectively for example, significant understaffing persists, including an estimated shortfall of around 2,200 probation staff as of March 2026. There have been concerns about whether the system can scale up safely. The report from the independent public spendng watchdog concludes that further expansion of the electronic monitoring system will not be efficient or effective unless the MoJ and HMPPS work with partners to address weaknesses in governance, data quality and system-wide inefficiencies to support a more reliable and responsive service. Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: Electronic monitoring is central to managing pressures on prisons, but it is not working effectively, creating risks to public protection. Improvements are required to ensure that those who should be monitored are monitored and that breaches are responded to effectively. The MoJ and HMPPS should address the inefficiencies and risks identified in our report before expanding electronic monitoring. ENDS
Press notices and reports are available from the date of publication on the NAO website. Hard copies can be obtained by using the relevant links on our website.
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