Some prisoners released early as part of efforts to ease overcrowding have not been fitted with electronic tracking devices, despite it being a condition of their release, the BBC has been told. Several offenders released on licence said they had not been fitted with an ankle tag – with one describing it as “a disaster waiting to happen”.
One probation officer said the delays in them being fitted appeared to be due to a shortage of tags, while the Ministry of Justice said it was due to a backlog of former prisoners.
The MoJ blamed security contractor Serco – which manages the prison tagging system – for the delays. Serco said it was working to reduce the numbers waiting for tags. Prisons minister Lord James Timpson said the delays to tagging were “completely unacceptable” and called what he described as an “urgent meeting with Serco leaders” on Thursday evening.
He said they “accepted the need for immediate action and personally committed to me to eliminate the backlog” – which, Lord Timpson added, he expected would “be done at pace over the coming weeks”. All offenders continue to be closely monitored by the Probation Service with stringent conditions and we are prioritising the tagging of domestic abusers on licence to ensure the safety of victims.
Source: BBC
In other news – Prince Harry files new paperwork accepting his fate in the US
Prince Harry ended up filing all new paperwork, seemingly in acceptance of his new situation in the US, and it relates to none other than the decision he made to switch his formal residential status from the UK to the US in Travalyst documents.
For those unversed, it became official sometime in June 2023 and now reads, “new country/state usually resident” as the United States of America. Read more
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