Electronic monitoring caseload
Electronic monitoring was introduced in 1999 to support the police, courts, prisons and wider justice system in England and Wales.
It is a way of remotely monitoring and recording information on an individual’s whereabouts or movements, using an electronic tag which is normally fitted to a subject’s ankle. The tag transmits this information, via a base unit installed in a subject’s residence, to a monitoring centre where it is processed and recorded in case management systems. Staff in the monitoring centre review this information to see whether an individual is complying with the conditions of their curfew or other electronically monitored requirement. Where a subject is not complying, the electronic monitoring provider either acts on this information themselves or provides it to the relevant authority to take the necessary enforcement action.
The figures for 31 March 2019 onwards include details of those on location monitoring tags, which were introduced in November 2018.
The figures also include those fitted with an alcohol monitoring tag. Alcohol monitoring was introduced to courts in Wales in October 2020 and expanded to courts in England on 31 March 2021 to support the new community sentencing option, the Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirement (AAMR). For offenders being released from custody whose offending and risk is alcohol related, an Alcohol Monitoring on Licence (AML) additional licence condition was introduced in Wales in November 2021 and rolled out in England in June 2022.
Visit Electronic Monitoring Statistics for data sources and more details.
Electronic monitoring caseload
Total caseload.
31 March 2023
17,350
Data source
Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication
Published: 20 July 2023.
Bail
As a condition of court bail.
31 March 2023
6,284
Data source
Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication
Published: 20 July 2023.
Court sentence
As a requirement of a court sentence, including community orders and suspended sentences. These figures also include those with an Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement.
31 March 2023
3,369
Data source
Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication
Published: 20 July 2023.
Post release
As a licence condition following release from custody, including Home Detention Curfew. These figures also include those with an Alcohol Monitoring Requirement.
31 March 2023
4,102
Data source
Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication
Published: 20 July 2023.
Immigration
As a condition of immigration bail, managed by the Home Office.
31 March 2023
3,522
Data source
Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication
Published: 20 July 2023.
Specials
Used to intensively monitor a small number of subjects including: some of the highest risk offenders managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA); those granted bail by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC); and those made subject to Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs). In these cases, monitoring may be by way of a Global Positioning System (GPS) tag rather than a radio frequency (RF) tag.
Alcohol monitoring
Alcohol monitoring was introduced in October 2020 and went live throughout England and Wales on 31 March 2021 to support the new community sentencing option, the Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirement (AAMR). An AAMR may only be used when sentencing for alcohol-related criminal behaviour and it imposes a total ban on drinking alcohol for up to 120 days. Compliance with the ban is monitored electronically using an alcohol tag which continuously monitors for the presence of alcohol.
31 March 2023
2,248
Data source
Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication
Published: 20 July 2023.