More than 5,000 offenders went unmonitored after tags were not fitted

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  More than 5,000 people in England and Wales who should have been electronically monitored were not tagged between January and April, a report found.

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  Almost 1,600 tags failed to send a signal to the monitoring system for more than two weeks because of technical faults or because devices were not charged.

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  The Institute for Government said staff shortages had left probation supervision “rationed” and court sentences less meaningful.

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  The report warned that, once the 2026 Sentencing Act is fully implemented, most offenders will spend the final third of their sentence on licence without active supervision.

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  It called for more probation workers and a sentencing model that clearly sets out prison time and supervised time in the community.

Who

The Institute for Government reported the findings. More than 5,000 people who should have been monitored were not tagged.

What

A report found failures in electronic tagging and wider problems with probation supervision in England and Wales.

When

The tagging figures cover January to April. The report was published on 11 October 2026.

Where

England and Wales.

Why

Probation staff failed to install tags, while technical faults and uncharged devices also caused monitoring failures. The report linked wider probation problems to staff shortages.

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