Probation officers will receive real-time information from electronic tags worn by offenders under a new Government service designed to flag potential risks and breaches of compliance more quickly.
The Electronic Monitoring Data Insights service, currently being piloted in London, gives frontline probation teams faster access to information from offenders' tags.
Random drug testing
Under the plans, 1,000 offenders on licence each month will be randomly tested for drugs. The tests are intended to protect both the welfare of those being monitored and the public.
Electronic tagging uses devices, usually worn around the ankle, to monitor whether people under probation supervision comply with conditions such as house arrest.
Rollout
The real-time monitoring will go live across London, the West Midlands and the East of England in mid-August. Once the pilots finish, the technology will be available to all probation staff nationwide by the end of 2026.
A Government source said: "The new Justice Secretary wants to look at ramping up the use of technology to protect the public and ensure probation officers are always one step ahead of offenders."
Political backdrop
The announcement follows new Prime Minister Andy Burnham's pledge that "keeping the public safe" will be his top priority. Last week he announced a pause to the early prisoner release scheme, a controversial programme introduced in response to the prison overcrowding crisis left by the Tories.
The scheme has faced criticism from the widow of PC Andrew Harper in recent days. Under the new Sentencing Act, set to come into force in September, some 6,000 criminals were due to be released under the early prisoner release scheme.
Earlier this year, Napo, the union representing probation staff, passed a no-confidence motion in the leadership of HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). The union warned that excessive workloads, understaffing, and burnout posed a "direct risk to the public" because staff were unable to manage clients' risk effectively.
