§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has undertaken of the risks faced by telecommunications engineers who install and maintain custodial electronic tagging and monitoring equipment. [91188]
§ Mr. George HowarthNo prisoner is allowed to participate in the Home Detention Curfew scheme (HDC) unless he or she satisfies both a prison service risk assessment and the strict eligibility criteria set out in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Prisoners are not released on HDC if the release would present an unacceptable risk to the victim or members of the public, or if they have a pattern of offending which indicates a likelihood of re-offending during the HDC period, or if they are considered unlikely to comply with the conditions of the curfew.
As to court-ordered curfews enforced by electronic monitoring, an assessment of the suitability of the sentence for an offender is carried out by the probation service as part of the pre-sentence report. This would include consideration of the same risk issues as outlined above in respect of HDC.
There is no reason to believe that telecommunications engineers are at risk from offenders subject to electronic monitoring.