Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 13
Twenty-First Report: Transforming electronic monitoring services
Published 21 Oct 2022
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Electronic Monitoring programme All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We asked why government was not exploring mobile phone GPS technology or identity scanning software, such as fingerprint scanning used by banks. HMPPS explained that the challenge of using mobile phones in tagging is that they would not be solely used for this purpose, and that phones could be linked to servers offshore with potential data security implications. However, HMPPS has harnessed data from GPS location data in its acquisitive crime pilot which covers a cohort of around 650 offenders convicted for theft, burglary or robbery offences. The pilot uses data on alleged crimes from police and overlays location data to produce matches where offenders have been in a defined proximity. HMPPS told us that while the offenders’ probation officers can access data in real-time, the challenge was to match this capability for the rest of the GPS caseload. It told us that it had received a large number of requests from police for direct access to its system. HMPPS believed it could see operational benefits for the police if it provided direct access but it had so far not done so due to data protection considerations which it told us it wanted to step through carefully.22 19 Qq 48, 52; C&AG’s report, para 2.22 20 C&AG’s report, para 7 21 C&AG’s report, para 2.20. Figure 8 22 Qq 47, 80; C&AG’s report, Figure 15 12 Transforming electronic monitoring services 2 The evidence base for tagging Understanding the impact of tagging
From: Public Accounts Committee, Twenty-First Report: Transforming electronic monitoring services (HC 34), 21 October 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 December 2022 (deadline 21 December 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with each of the Committee's six recommendations on the Ministry of Justice's electronic monitoring services, and gives target implementation dates for five of them.
- On real-time police access to GPS data, the government agrees with the recommendation, but says police have advised that live access is not a current priority; it will "consider whether and how changes to the service can be made" should the police's view change.
- On outdated technology, remediation work has moved from December 2022 to March 2023, and system improvements "by the end of January 2023" are intended to let the GPS system cope with rising volumes.
- On evidence of impact, a benefits management strategy and realisation plan will be in place "By April 2023", and a formal evaluation strategy for electronic monitoring is being developed. The target implementation date is August 2023.
- On oversight of the expansion programme, the agency commits to write to the Committee in August 2023, once new contracts have been awarded.