Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many prisons Serco has staff and equipment in place to fit tags (a) before and (b) on the day of release; and what contractual requirement Serco has to provide that capacity at every prison releasing offenders under the Sentencing Act 2026.

Under our Field and Monitoring Services contract, Serco staff attend prisons with the required equipment when an installation is required.

We have piloted Install at Source across six prisons. Install at Source involves fitting electronic monitoring (EM) equipment before an individual leaves prison, rather than arranging installation at their home address following release. Following the pilot, the Department is expanding the model to support wider delivery of pre-release tagging across the prison estate.

Our Field and Monitoring Services contract requires Serco to meet demand for EM orders, including attending prisons to undertake Install at Source activity where required. The contract does not require Serco to maintain permanent staff and equipment at every prison. Serco must provide the operational capacity necessary to deliver installations in line with contractual requirements.