Tagging more expensive than jail
21 Jun 07
No case for electronic monitoring of suspects, evaluation concludes
Tagging accused persons awaiting trial is more expensive than remanding them in prison, according to an evaluation of electronic monitoring carried out for the Scottish Executive.
Tagging was introduced as a condition of bail at four courts – the High Court in Glasgow, and the sheriff courts in Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Stirling – two years ago, with the aim of reducing the number of those in custody and boosting public confidence.
The evaluation found that in the first 16 months of the pilot, applications were made for electronically monitored bail in 306 cases (including 11 known eligible cases of murder or rape) and it was granted to 116 suspects. The 116 reduced custodial remands by 1.7%.
The majority of applicants were men with a mean age of 26, charged with one or two offences. The most common of these were violence, breach of bail or disorder offences. Most of the successful applications were from accused charged in summary rather than solemn proceedings.
Breach proceedings were brought against 31 of those tagged – 12 for infringement of bail conditions and 19 involving other alleged offences.
The overall cost for those tagged during bail was estimated at £4,123, compared to £5,096 per case for those refused bail and remanded in custody. However, the £973 cost saving is often cancelled out because those kept in custody who are subsequently jailed will have any sentence backdated to take into account time already spent in prison. This led the evaluation to conclude that tagging those on bail was more expensive than custodial remand.
Press coverage of the tagging scheme “tended to be both sceptical and negative”, focusing on the anticipated impact of electronically monitored bail in murder cases – and latterly, on an actual murder case. This had served to weaken the case for tagging bail by questioning its credibility and legitimacy.
The report concluded: “The pilots have not fulfilled their aims of either increasing perceptions of public safety or reducing the custodial remand population in any significant way. Unless a way can be found to make it more cost-effective, it is difficult to make the case for its continuance or expansion.”
The report can be read at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/06/20102655/0 .