New justice minister volunteers to wear alcohol monitoring tag

Electronic monitoring devices can keep tabs on the alcohol levels in the wearer’s sweat every 30 minutes.

An alcohol monitoring tag (Nick Ansell/PA) (PA Archive)

A justice minister has volunteered to wear an alcohol monitoring tag used to help cut re-offending rates for prison leavers.

Lord Timpson said he expects to gain “first-hand insight” from wearing the device, which he said gives people a chance to “rewrite their behaviour”.

Speaking as peers considered a report on community sentences, Lord Timpson described electronic monitoring as a “useful tool” to monitor compliance.

They can be used for several purposes, including monitoring alcohol levels in the wearer’s sweat every 30 minutes, tracking the location of offenders throughout each day and making sure offenders do not stray from home if they are under a curfew.

Lord Timpson was previously the chief executive of the shoe repair company Timpson, which trains and employs former prisoners, and also served as chairman of the Prison Reform Trust.

The rehabilitation campaigner, who oversees prisons, parole and probation in his new role, told peers: “Data from alcohol monitoring for community sentences shows devices did not register a tamper or alcohol alert for over 97% of the days worn.

“This provides offenders with a real chance to rewrite their behaviour and change the narrative of their life.

“I myself have volunteered to be fitted with an alcohol tag and look forward to gaining first-hand insight into the experience of those who are electronically monitored.”

Liberal Democrat Baroness Hamwee joked to the minister: “I wonder whether he knows if there’s a chocolate tag – I could do with one of those.”