The Metropolitan Police is reducing enforcement of minor breaches of electronic tag conditions, under a pilot scheme running until the spring, amid resourcing pressures and following early prisoner release. Under the pilot, officers will not act on breaches of curfews or tag batteries lasting under an hour, unless the person wearing the tag is considered to pose a particular risk to the public.

What still happens

The force has been clear that breach notifications will still be reviewed, but will only progress to potential arrest where there are risk or safeguarding concerns. High-risk offenders, such as domestic abusers, will be prioritised. A Met spokesperson said: "Where offenders have briefly stepped outside for a cigarette, or police are notified 19 hours later that they were 15 minutes late returning home, tying up several officers for hours is not the best use of resources." The pilot applies to offenders, or alleged offenders awaiting trial, who have been bailed by the courts, and is expected to reduce breaches requiring police action by more than 15%.

Scale of the problem

The Met says it is policing more than 100 tag breaches a day. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has warned that "95%-plus of the tagging breaches that we arrest are simply being bailed back into the community on the same condition, so there is zero sanction", and the force says it arrests two or three early release prisoners per week who are recalled to prison because of further offending. The government says it inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse, and the pilot is designed to free officers for higher-risk enforcement and persistent offending.