Electronic tags fitted to offenders in England and Wales are taking up to five months to install, creating a "false sense of assurance" for victims and leading to repeated breaches of court-imposed curfews and conditions. The delays are particularly concerning as the Government expands the tagging system, with over 2,500 prisoners due for early release before Christmas under Labour's scheme, most requiring electronic monitoring. Martin Jones, chief inspector of probation, has warned that expanding tagging programmes without addressing systemic weaknesses risks overpromising on public protection.

Only 55 per cent of location-tracking ankle tags and 60 per cent of alcohol-monitoring tags were fitted on time according to an inspection of 180 people under electronic monitoring. The report found that authorities failed to fully utilise data from the tags, with major violations explored in just 46 per cent of relevant cases, and little evidence that electronic monitoring promotes behaviour change or reduces reoffending. As of June 2026, 27,847 people had tagging orders in place. Experts have also raised concerns that the current system is too slow to protect vulnerable victims, particularly in domestic abuse and sexual assault cases, where breach alerts sent via email can take until the next working day to be actioned.