§ Mr. John EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the cost effectiveness of electronic tagging of offenders or persons on bail.
§ Mr. John PattenThe current trials of electronic monitoring as a condition of bail have already shown that the technology works and that operating procedures are effective. We are now considering the case for a larger-scale trial of electronic monitoring in an area where substantial numbers can be monitored as a condition of bail, with a view to providing improved measures of the cost effectiveness of electronic monitoring.