ELECTRONIC MONITORING

DELIVERED WELL
F O R H M I N S P E C TO R AT E
O F P R O B AT I O N
 Methodology
North West
• Fieldwork completed July to September Yorkshire and
2021 the Humber
• 6 regions
• 172 cases inspected that had an electronically East Midlands
monitored requirement as part of a community
sentence or licence condition, including home
detention curfew Wales
• 102 probation practitioners interviewed
• 19 sentencers
• 42 interviews conducted by Penal Reform
Solutions with people on probation to
understand their experience of electronic
monitoring
• Visited EMS (providers of electronic London
monitoring) and spoke with national electronic South
monitoring programme team. Central
 What is electronic
monitoring?
• Radio frequency tags – these are fitted for the purpose of
monitoring curfew only, either as part of a community sentence or
home detention curfew to confirm if the wearer is at a specific
address for a specific period of time.
• Global Positioning System (GPS) tags – these are fitted for
the purpose of monitoring a person’s whereabouts. Available as
part of a community sentence or home detention curfew,
regardless of type of sentence, or as part of licence conditions for
specific sentence types. Able to monitor the following
requirements:
- Trail monitoring – the individual’s whereabouts are monitored
24/7 and data is available that tracks the individual’s movements.
- Exclusion zones – monitors if the wearer enters a defined
exclusion zone and raises an alert to the probation practitioner if
the exclusion zone is breached.
- Attendance monitoring – able to confirm attendance at a
specific location at a specific time.

Image credit: HMPPS

 And there’s more…

Alcohol abstinence monitoring tag – available as part

of a community order where alcohol has contributed to
the offence. Designed as an intervention to impose a
period of alcohol abstinence on the wearer.
• Level of alcohol in the wearer’s blood system is
measured every 30 minutes.
• Any reading that indicates there has been alcohol use
is fed back via local administrative officers within
PDUs.
• A pilot enabling the use of the alcohol abstinence
monitoring tags for those on prison licence
commenced in November 2021 in Wales.

Image credit: HMPPS

 Community sentence
curfew
Q: At pre-sentence stage – For those cases where an electronically
monitored curfew was imposed, what percentage of cases inspected
had domestic abuse checks completed before the sentence was
given?

17% 37% 57% 77%

Answer…

37%
 Home detention curfew

Q: Does the home detention curfew address check form ask you if,
in your professional opinion, the proposed address is suitable?

Yes No

Answer…

Both answers are correct.

 More HDC…

Q: Can you request that HDC is monitored with GPS technology so

you can also impose an electronically monitored exclusion zone,
trail monitoring or attendance requirement?

Yes No

Answer…

Yes.
 Parole board release

GPS monitoring can be applied by the Parole Board as part of release conditions for
those individuals who are subject to life, indeterminate or extended sentences.

Q: In our inspection the majority of these cases were released to

approved premises in the first instance. What would be a possible
drawback of having GPS applied at point of release?

Answer…

This risk management tool is often coming to

the end just as the person on probation moves
out of the approved premises and when it
would be most useful to understand their
whereabouts and activities.
 Allocation

Q: When you are allocated a case that is subject to electronic monitoring,

according to PI 2019-01, how soon after allocation should you forward the
risk management and probation practitioner information form to the
electronic monitoring provider?

Within
Within Within
one day five days 10 days

Answer…

Within one day.

 Initial assessment

Q: How may electronic monitoring impact on each of these OASys sections?

Accommodation Education, Finance Lifestyle and

Relationships
training and association
employment

Drug misuse Alcohol misuse Emotional Thinking and Attitudes

wellbeing behaviour
 Sentence plan
Q: How many probation practitioners thought electronic monitoring was
helpful in promoting desistance from offending?

28% 48% 68% 88%

Answer…
88%
Q: In the cases that we inspected, how many probation practitioners
identified electronic monitoring as potentially reducing reoffending and
supporting desistance within sentence plans?

11% 31% 61% 81%

Answer…
11%
 Risk management plans
Q: How many probation practitioners thought electronic monitoring was
helpful in managing risk of harm?

22% 52% 72% 92%

Answer… 92%
Q: In the cases that we inspected, how many probation practitioners
identified electronic monitoring as a monitoring and/or control
intervention within their risk management plans?

10% 40% 60% 90%

Answer…
60%
 Supervision

Q: 42 people on probation were interviewed as part of this inspection.

Which of the following were main themes that emerged from the
findings:

Lack of communication about what being ‘on tag’ meant

Wellbeing

Feeling of shame

Impact on relationships?

Answer…

All of them.
 Reviewing

Q: How many cases were reviewed at the end of the

electronically monitored period?

16% 36% 56% 76%

Answer…

16%
 Case reflections

Discuss your own cases subject to electronic monitoring:

• What is working well with these cases?

• What improvements could be made?

• Is electronic monitoring being used to its full potential?

 Useful information

Links to reports and supporting documents:

The thematic review of ‘the use of electronic monitoring as a

tool for the Probation Service in reducing reoffending and
managing risk’ and the accompanying Penal Reform
Solutions report are available on HM Inspectorate of
Probation’s website.

Read HM Inspectorate of Probation’s ‘Electronic monitoring

delivered well: Effective practice pack’ including:
• Key takeaways guide
• Case studies
• Electronic monitoring: managing risk and supporting
desistance infographic.

www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation