Recommendation 19

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