More criminals in UK to be tracked with ankle tags

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Tens of thousands of criminals will be released from prison with electronic anklets over the next three years. James Timpson, the prisons minister, called it the “biggest expansion of tagging in British history” and said it will mean domestic abusers and thieves are “watched more closely than ever before”. It may also free up space in overcrowded prisons. Increased tagging is a key plank of Labour’s sentencing act, under which offenders will serve the first third of their sentences in prison before spending the second under electronic surveillance. A prohibition officer will then determine if the offender remains tagged for the third portion. Tagging can lead to sharp drops in reoffending, according to a pilot scheme. The policy is one of several steps Labour has taken in an attempt to bring down prison numbers, including early releases and the introduction of suspended sentences for lower-level offences. Not every effort has worked.