The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Justice, Minister for Prisons, and Probation (Sam
Gyimah): The Ministry of Justice robustly
monitors all commercial contracts. In January, officials in my
department notified EMS, the provider of the electronic
monitoring service, of an increase in the number of alerts that
are raised when the electronic monitoring equipment worn by an
offender or suspect is tampered with.
This was investigated by EMS and G4S, the suppliers of
straps and tags used to electronically monitor offenders and
suspects with a curfew.
At the end of February G4S informed the Ministry of an
issue with faulty straps. Ministers were informed of this issue
on 14 March.
The monitoring functions of the tags themselves are not
affected and the security features within the tags have been
working correctly. I can assure the House that there has been no
risk to the public.
We understand that the number of affected straps is small.
Only straps that have entered the system since October 2016 are
affected. This is the point at which the batch of potentially
faulty straps entered circulation. G4S has been testing straps.
That testing indicates that around 1% (115) of the
11,500 straps in use today are faulty.
If no tampering with the tag has been registered, they have
operated as normal. Where a strap is faulty, however, there is a
risk that it could incorrectly register that somebody has
tampered with it.
There is a small chance that some enforcement action may
have been taken against an offender or suspect in response to a
false report of a tamper. It does not mean an individual will
have been automatically sent to custody. A single tamper alert
without any additional evidence of an escalation of risk is
likely to result in an alternative outcome, such as a warning
letter. So it is unlikely that a first tamper on its own will
result in an offender being recalled. The Ministry is working
with G4S and EMS to investigate that further. The issue is also
being brought to the attention of the courts.
As a result of this issue, all potentially faulty straps
will either be removed or replaced. This process is underway. In
the interim, we will continue to monitor and respond to tamper
alerts ensuring that where it is appropriate to do so enforcement
action is taken.
G4S has introduced further quality checks with the strap
manufacturer to ensure that no more faulty straps enter the
supply chain. The taxpayer will bear no cost for the faults.
Reaction:
Justice Minister said:
“We have been made aware of a fault with a small number of straps
that are used to secure electronic monitoring tags to offenders
and suspects.
“The monitoring functions of the tags themselves are not
affected, therefore there has been no risk to the public. The
process of removing or replacing potentially faulty straps is
underway.
“We hold providers rigorously to account over performance and we
have robust processes in place to ensure providers are fulfilling
their contractual requirements. We will not hesitate to the take
the necessary action where failings are identified.”
