Recommendations & Conclusions
9 items
2
Recommendation
Twenty-First Report: Transforming elect…
Not Addressed
HMPPS remains reliant on outdated technology which puts the tagging service at risk of failing. Due to the prolonged delays in the programme, HMPPS is relying on legacy technology and will have to use its current case management system until at least 2024, which will cost £9.8 million for remediation …
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HMPPS remains reliant on outdated technology which puts the tagging service at risk of failing. Due to the prolonged delays in the programme, HMPPS is relying on legacy technology and will have to use its current case management system until at least 2024, which will cost £9.8 million for remediation work and licensing costs. As HMPPS has been using its current system since 2012, many of its applications are no longer supported by manufacturers and have severe risks, with outdated hardware and software. The telephone system Capita uses in the live service has failed six times since May 2021. HMPPS asserts that there have not been any undetected breaches by offenders, as it recovers data after an outage. But this clearly remains a significant risk until it replaces the system. HMPPS is updating and replacing systems to ensure they are stable and scalable as the number of people fitted with tags rises. It opted not to simulate additional tagging volumes on its existing systems to see how well they can cope with caseload increases, but asserts that it will improve resilience by moving the system to the cloud. Recommendation: To provide assurance that the risk of system failure will not materialise, HMPPS should explain the following in its Treasury Minute response: • what progress it has made in delivering planned remediation work on its case management system; • how well its systems are coping with caseload increases; and • how it will ensure that future digital contracts will factor in routine IT upgrades and maintenance. 6 Transforming electronic monitoring services
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Government response AI summary
The government provides a response related to air quality standards, which is completely unrelated to the recommendation about HMPPS's outdated technology and electronic monitoring systems.
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HM Treasury
3
Recommendation
Twenty-First Report: Transforming elect…
Not Addressed
HMPPS has failed to provide police forces and the Probation Service with timely access to the tagging information they need to effectively supervise offenders and protect the public. HMPPS expected Gemini and the user portal to enhance probation officers’ supervision of offenders and improve public protection by providing: a single …
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HMPPS has failed to provide police forces and the Probation Service with timely access to the tagging information they need to effectively supervise offenders and protect the public. HMPPS expected Gemini and the user portal to enhance probation officers’ supervision of offenders and improve public protection by providing: a single version of case management records; improved management information and reporting capabilities; and crucially, access to historical and real- time maps of offenders’ movements by using GPS tags. Without this system, police and probation officers cannot access real-time data and have to submit manual requests for location data, which limits the value of using GPS tracking. However, HMPPS’s acquisitive crime pilot—which involves comparing data from GPS tags against the locations of alleged crimes submitted by the police—has enabled probation officers to have real-time access to location data for the 650 offenders in the pilot. HMPPS has received requests from the police for direct access to its system, but it has so far not provided this due to data protection considerations. Recommendation: Before starting future contracts in January 2024, HMPPS should explore how it can provide police forces and other law enforcement agencies with real-time access to location monitoring data across all GPS tagging cohorts —taking account of data protection considerations—and update us on its plans.
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Government response AI summary
The government states that local authorities are responsible for developing their own Clean Air Plans. This is not related to the recommendation about HMPPS.
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HM Treasury
5
Recommendation
Twenty-First Report: Transforming elect…
Not Addressed
HMPPS’s innovative use of technology in its expansion projects has yielded some encouraging early results. HMPPS has achieved some initial positive results from using new technology in its alcohol monitoring scheme and acquisitive crime Transforming electronic monitoring services 7 project. For example, offenders have had high short-term sobriety rates while …
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HMPPS’s innovative use of technology in its expansion projects has yielded some encouraging early results. HMPPS has achieved some initial positive results from using new technology in its alcohol monitoring scheme and acquisitive crime Transforming electronic monitoring services 7 project. For example, offenders have had high short-term sobriety rates while being tagged, although HMPPS did not explain how it will be able to monitor longer- term abstinence or whether the scheme reduces alcohol-fuelled offending. HMPPS’s acquisitive crime project has helped to secure 30 charges for theft, burglary or robbery and it claims that participating police forces value the scheme. However, HMPPS’s early experience in delivering non-fitted monitoring devices for Foreign National Offenders was much less positive, as the system was discovered not to be compliant with cyber security standards. It has created an £18.5 million innovation fund which will help it explore further tagging options, including a possible drugs tag. In order to ensure that HMPPS protects taxpayers’ interests, we expect it to rigorously apply learning from its experience of developing and using new technology as it continues to expand tagging services. Recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, HMPPS should explain how it will apply lessons from its tagging expansion projects to future schemes, including the forthcoming project for tagging domestic abusers.
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Government response AI summary
The government has consulted on a revised National Air Pollution Control Programme (NAPCP) which includes robust actionable measures for further consideration to deliver compliance with the 2030 targets for all air pollutants. This is not related to the recommendation about HMPPS.
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HM Treasury
6
Recommendation
Twenty-First Report: Transforming elect…
Not Addressed
HMPPS’s poor track record in its transformation programme does not inspire confidence that it will be well-equipped to handle risks in its £1.2 billion expansion programme. HMPPS is re-procuring contracts to run the electronic monitoring service. It is attempting to apply lessons and reduce delivery risks, for example by using …
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HMPPS’s poor track record in its transformation programme does not inspire confidence that it will be well-equipped to handle risks in its £1.2 billion expansion programme. HMPPS is re-procuring contracts to run the electronic monitoring service. It is attempting to apply lessons and reduce delivery risks, for example by using off-the-shelf systems and limiting the number of suppliers in the new model. However, there are inherent delivery risks to reprocuring a changing service where the number of tagged people is increasing. In addition, it will still face challenges in integrating the work of its suppliers, particularly given its tight timeframes to put new contracts in place by early 2024. It expects suppliers to integrate their systems in six months, but HMPPS has not yet started its testing work so does not know how difficult this would be. HMPPS intends to outsource the role of systems integrator again, something which it tried and failed to do before. There are significant risks with this approach, including the risk of conflicts of interest and unclear accountability due to dependencies between future suppliers’ work. Recommendation: HMPPS should write to the Committee in 2023, once the procurement of new contracts to run electronic monitoring is complete, on how it is handling risks in the programme. As part of this, it should explain how it will oversee suppliers’ work effectively and ensure clear lines of responsibility and accountability between the integrator and its other suppliers in the programme. 8 Transforming electronic monitoring services 1 HM Prison & Probation Service’s tagging transformation programme
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Government response AI summary
The government provides a response related to air pollution control, which is completely unrelated to the recommendation about HMPPS's contract procurement for electronic monitoring and risk management.
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HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Twenty-First Report: Transforming elect…
Not Addressed
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry) and HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) on HMPPS’s electronic monitoring (‘tagging’) transformation programme.1
Government response AI summary
The government states that information is effectively communicated to the public. They launched an Air Quality Information System (AQIS) Review to ensure members of the public, and vulnerable groups, have what they need to protect themselves and understand their impact on air quality. This is …
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HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Twenty-First Report: Transforming elect…
We asked HMPPS what information it shared with the judiciary to inform their sentencing choices. It explained that it had an extensive programme of engagement in place to ensure judges and magistrates were aware of available services. However, it told us that there were significant variations in the use of …
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We asked HMPPS what information it shared with the judiciary to inform their sentencing choices. It explained that it had an extensive programme of engagement in place to ensure judges and magistrates were aware of available services. However, it told us that there were significant variations in the use of electronic monitoring between different courts, with differences in the use of types of tags imposed. Some courts made extensive use of radio frequency tags but do not use GPS and in others, it was the other way round. HMPPS made clear that it saw it as part of its job to ensure that sentencers, judges and magistrates have the information about what is available in their jurisdiction to make informed choices.29 23 Committee of Public Accounts, The electronic monitoring of adult offenders, Sixty-second Report of Session 2005–06, HC 997, 12 October 2006 24 HM Treasury, Treasury Minutes on the Fifty-eighth, Fifty-ninth, Sixty-first and the Sixty-second Reports from the Committee of Public Accounts 2005–2006, December 2006 25 C&AG’s report, paras 9 and 2.9, Figure 10 26 Q 71 27 Qq 58–59 28 Qq 59–60, 89 29 Q 62 Transforming electronic monitoring services 13
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HM Treasury
19
Recommendation
Twenty-First Report: Transforming elect…
Not Addressed
HMPPS launched alcohol monitoring services in October 2020 for offenders sentenced in the community. In November 2021 and June 2022, it extended the scheme to include those leaving prison, in Wales and in England respectively. Alcohol tags measure alcohol concentration in sweat and send an alert if the wearer has …
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HMPPS launched alcohol monitoring services in October 2020 for offenders sentenced in the community. In November 2021 and June 2022, it extended the scheme to include those leaving prison, in Wales and in England respectively. Alcohol tags measure alcohol concentration in sweat and send an alert if the wearer has consumed alcohol. As at March 2021, 900 offenders were tagged as part of the alcohol monitoring service. HMPPS forecast that there will be around 1,900 individuals once the scheme has got into a ‘steady- state position’.34 HMPPS reported high abstinence rates of around 97% so far for those offenders tagged as part of the programme, but it does not yet know if the scheme promotes longer-term sobriety or reductions in alcohol fuelled offending. We asked the Ministry and HMPPS whether they can isolate the effect of wearing a tag from the other sentence requirements that offenders must fulfil, such as undertaking unpaid work or attending programmes to address offending behaviour. The Ministry told us that it cannot attribute the effect, but will be able to perform better evaluation as case numbers grow.35 An alcohol tagging order typically lasts 90 days. As part of its evaluation of alcohol monitoring, HMPPS told us that it planned to explore what is the right period for an individual to be tagged, and whether it was providing the right support to people to address their drinking and behaviour. We asked HMPPS what alternative support it provided alongside the tag, such as alcohol treatment programmes. It recognised that there was inconsistent provision for alcohol support services in England and Wales. It explained that it was reflecting on whether it should commission specific services for tagged offenders.36
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Government response AI summary
The government's response regarding a lessons learned strategy did not address the committee's recommendation concerning evaluating the long-term impact of alcohol tagging or commissioning specific alcohol support services.
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HM Treasury
24
Conclusion
Twenty-First Report: Transforming elect…
Not Addressed
HMPPS told us it had learnt lessons from its transformation programme and was applying these to its re-procurement of its contracts to deliver tagging services. In addition to pursuing off-the-shelf systems, it told us that it had decided to limit the number of suppliers in its new model to two. …
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HMPPS told us it had learnt lessons from its transformation programme and was applying these to its re-procurement of its contracts to deliver tagging services. In addition to pursuing off-the-shelf systems, it told us that it had decided to limit the number of suppliers in its new model to two. As part of the new model, one supplier will provide field and monitoring services while the other will provide tags and other hardware.44 The Ministry told us that it considered whether it should contract with a single supplier, but believed this would concentrate the market too much. It recognised that, by definition, having two suppliers introduces some element of complexity.45 HMPPS hopes to mitigate future integration risks by: • ensuring potential suppliers demonstrate they have proven technology in place; and • taking a phased approach to confirming future system requirements. It believed suppliers will be able to integrate their systems in six months, but this remains untested at this early stage of the procurement.46
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and provides general risk management and procurement processes for the electronic monitoring contracts but does not address the substance of the recommendation.
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HM Treasury
28
Conclusion
Twenty-First Report: Transforming elect…
Not Addressed
We asked HMPPS whether it will be prepared to step in to handle any problems arising from this approach. It told us that it was ready to step in and had strengthened its governance and is holding regular meetings with potential suppliers.53 51 C&AG’s report, para 10 52 C&AG’s report, …
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We asked HMPPS whether it will be prepared to step in to handle any problems arising from this approach. It told us that it was ready to step in and had strengthened its governance and is holding regular meetings with potential suppliers.53 51 C&AG’s report, para 10 52 C&AG’s report, paras 15 and 4.21 53 Q 23 18 Transforming electronic monitoring services
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Government response AI summary
The government describes its general risk management and procurement processes for the electronic monitoring contracts but does not specifically address how it will step in to handle problems arising from the approach as the committee asked.
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HM Treasury