Serco Group PLC faces further penalties unless it improves its ‘unacceptable’ performance on fitting electronic tags on offenders released from prison, the Justice Secretary has said.

Shabana Mahmood said the government is already imposing financial penalties based on the security company’s current performance and she ‘won’t hesitate to trigger’ relevant contractual penalties if needed.

The government took action after previously warning it had held ‘robust’ conversations with the firm after there were delays in fitting some offenders with electronic tags.

It came at a time when some 1,700 prisoners were released early from their sentences in England and Wales in the first phase of the government’s plan to tackle overcrowding.

Speaking in the Commons, Labour MP Lee Pincher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) said: ‘I have a number of prisons in Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme and I was particularly concerned to read about Serco’s failures on tagging.

‘Can the Secretary of State say what she is doing to hold them to account?’

Mahmood replied: ‘Serco’s performance is unacceptable. We are having daily meetings with them to ensure they recover the position.

‘I have made it clear that improved performance is an absolute priority.

‘We are already imposing financial penalties given their performance to date and won’t hesitate to trigger relevant contractual penalties if they do not improve.’

Serco last month said it has been ‘working hard to reduce the number of people waiting to have a tag fitted’ since taking over the electronic monitoring contract in May.

Shares in Serco were down 0.8% at 180.30 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon.

By Richard Wheeler, PA Parliamentary Editor

source: PA

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