§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the use of voice tagging; what pilot projects are being undertaken; what plans he has to extend the use of voice tagging. [129293]
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§ Mr. BoatengThere are currently two pilots using voice verification technology being undertaken in England and Wales; the first is a pilot using VoiceTrack technology (which is licensed to Group 4 in the United Kingdom) and after an initial six month pilot in the Kent Probation Service region, they have been extended to cover the North Wales area. The Youth Justice Board is also undertaking pilots using a voice verification system developed by Group 4 with Kent and Medway Youth Offending Teams. The Board is currently in discussions about extending the pilots but there are no firm plans at present to extend either of them. Both of these pilots will be evaluated by the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate. No decision about whether to extend the pilots will be made until after they have been evaluated.