Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to announce a new preferred bidder for the national contract for electronic offender-monitoring technology.

The competition to select the providers of next-generation electronic monitoring services in England and Wales has now concluded.

On 15 July the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice announced the award of contract to four companies who together will deliver the new Electronic Monitoring service. British company Steatite will develop and manufacture the equipment. Capita will manage the overall service, Airbus Defence and Space will provide satellite-mapping and Telefonica will supply the network.