National Audit Office and Ministry of Justice Differ on Number of Untagged Offenders in England and Wales

A National Audit Office report states that prison authorities in England and Wales were reviewing around 8,900 cases of individuals with active monitoring orders but no electronic tag as of March 2026. BBC News reported that the cases likely include violent offenders and prisoners released from jail who require checks.

The Ministry of Justice disputes the figure and states its own review puts the number of unmonitored individuals at 5,450.

The Ministry of Justice said the NAO figure referred to the total number of cases under review to determine whether monitoring is needed. A total of 28,700 people were recorded as tagged in England and Wales as of March 2026. The NAO described the current system as inefficient and said some of the 8,900 cases involved people registered as tagged by mistake, while the real number slipping through could be significant.

The Ministry of Justice is investing £100m in electronic monitoring, tagging offenders before release for the first time, and strengthening victim protections with new alert systems. NAO chief Gareth Davies said electronic monitoring is central to managing prison pressures but is not working effectively and creates risks to public protection.

He added that improvements are required to ensure those who should be monitored are monitored and that breaches are responded to effectively.

The report notes a shortfall of around 2,200 full-time probation officers, which the government expects to reduce to around 1,500 by September 2026. Security contractor Serco met its 95% timeliness target for tag fitting visits but succeeded in fitting tags on only 62% of individuals visited within its two attempts.