Thousands of offenders in England and Wales are not wearing electronic monitoring tags despite court orders requiring them to do so [1].
This failure undermines the judicial process by allowing individuals under curfew or monitoring requirements to move freely without oversight. It suggests a significant gap in the state's ability to enforce community-based sentencing and public safety measures.
A report from the National Audit Office found that almost 9,000 offenders are not wearing the required devices [1]. The report said the Ministry of Justice’s electronic monitoring system is inefficient, which has led to many individuals not being fitted with tags even when they are subject to specific court orders [1], [4].
There is a discrepancy regarding the exact number of untagged offenders. While the National Audit Office cites a figure of almost 9,000 [1], the Ministry of Justice reported the number to be 5,450 [2]. Other reports have placed the number at over 5,000 [3].
The inefficiency of the system means that the monitoring of curfews and other restrictions is not being consistently applied. This creates a situation where the legal requirements imposed by the courts are not being met in practice, a failure that the National Audit Office said is a large-scale issue [1].
The Ministry of Justice said that the number of offenders without tags is far lower than the figures presented by the National Audit Office [1], [2]. However, the disparity between these figures highlights a lack of consensus on the scale of the monitoring failure within the UK justice system [1].
“Almost 9,000 offenders are not wearing the required devices”
The gap between the National Audit Office's findings and the Ministry of Justice's data suggests a failure in internal tracking and reporting. When thousands of offenders bypass electronic monitoring, it weakens the perceived authority of the courts and may lead to a reliance on more restrictive forms of incarceration to ensure compliance, as community-based alternatives are seen as unreliable.
