Electronic monitoring - Improving resilience to meet increasing demand

In the short-term, to manage rising demand, MoJ and HMPPS should, by September 2026:
? set out a proposed system-wide approach to risk management, and share this with partners to support a coordinated response;
? set out the key operational intelligence needed from partners, and make best use of available information to monitor emerging capacity, performance and public protection risks, recognising this will be incomplete; and
? establish comprehensive escalation thresholds and contingency plans, setting out when and how senior leaders should intervene where system performance or capacity deteriorates.
By December 2026, they should also:
? produce a clear plan to strengthen the evidence base on electronic monitoring (EM) effectiveness further, including how this evidence might inform priorities for EM if delivery capacity becomes constrained.

Beyond this, to strengthen oversight of EM performance across the system, MoJ, the Home Office, the Judiciary, HMPPS and HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) should ensure there is a senior cross-system forum with a clear mandate to oversee performance, risk and capacity. This could build on existing governance structures, provided these operate at a sufficiently senior level and with the necessary authority. This forum should:
? agree ownership and accountability of system performance, roles and responsibilities, including escalation routes;
? oversee a core set of system-wide performance and risk metrics;
? oversee integrated capacity planning across suppliers, probation and police;
? improve data-sharing and information flows to support decision-making and accountability; and
? ensure stakeholders have a shared understanding of how the system is intended to operate by commissioning clear guidance and training.

To improve system efficiency, HMPPS should work with others to:
? estimate the costs of system inefficiencies and financial benefits of potential productivity improvements (for example, reducing manual re-keying of data) to inform where and how it could intervene;
? put more ?lead? measures of process quality and control effectiveness in place to identify where and why problems happen, to identify and resolve issues;
? ensure that all staff understand how to escalate problems and suggest improvements;
? complete rollout of its new order system, to reduce inefficiencies caused by poor data and timing of orders;
? consider taking a system-wide risk-based approach to handling alerts and breaches while maintaining public protection; and
? assess the value of expanding pilots of fitting tags at source in courts.

To improve the EM court bail process, MoJ and HMCTS should work with HMPPS and other stakeholders to understand, improve and then analyse data on court bail outcomes to understand police concerns around EM effectiveness for this group. They should then work with stakeholders to resolve any issues identified.

To ensure its future procurement approach supports its plans to stabilise and transform EM, in the medium term, HMPPS should:
? assess a range of options to inform its future procurement scope;
? define clear, evidence-based outcomes and areas requiring clearer specification for the EM service and co-design solutions with stakeholders, using pilots where appropriate and learning from previous contracts;
? if outsourcing, engage the market early to support effective competition and transitions; and
? put robust assurance arrangements in place before service commencement.