Prisoners freed early to ease overcrowding in jails have not been fitted with electronic tags despite it being a condition of their release, prompting criticism from a parliamentary watchdog. Officials have declined to say how many of the 1,700 prisoners in England and Wales who were allowed out after serving 40% of their sentences last week were not given tracking devices. It is understood to be “hundreds” rather than “dozens”, a source said. Whitehall insiders have blamed the security contractor Serco – which was given the contract in October 2023 – for the delays. Serco said it was working to reduce the numbers waiting for tags. Andy Slaughter, the chair of the justice select committee, questioned why Serco had been given the contract after a previous tagging scandal involving the outsourcing company led to a Serious Fraud Office investigation and a fine for defrauding the taxpayer. “Serco has a long history of poor performance and negligent conduct on tagging contracts and needs to be held to account by the MoJ [Ministry of Justice]. They were given a second chance after being fined £23m for mismanaging previous contracts. It looks as though lessons have not been learned,” he said. In 2019, the firm’s UK subsidiary Serco Geografix took responsibility for three offences of fraud and two of false accounting between 2010 and 2013, related to understating profits from its electronic monitoring contracts with the MoJ. It was fined £19.2m and ordered to pay £3.7m in costs. Tania Bassett, the national officer at the probation officers’ union, Napo, said members have been concerned about Serco’s ability to run the contract. “The question is, what work did HMPPS [HM Prison and Probation Service] do in advance with Serco to prepare them for the increased demand in tags, and how did Serco respond? Given Serco’s previous failures to provide tagging which resulted in them being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office, why on earth were they given another contract by HMPPS?” she asked. The MoJ has declined to say how many of those released without a tag have a history of violence against women and girls. Jessica Eagelton, the head of policy and public affairs at Refuge, said offenders being released without having electronic tracking devices fitted would exacerbate a worrying time for survivors. “The murders of Zara Aleena and Terri Harris, Connie Gent, Lacey Bennett and John Bennett have highlighted the fatal consequences of missed opportunities by probation officers to correctly assess and manage the risk of harm posed to both women and their children. “It is vital that probation practitioners effectively monitor all released offenders to protect survivors,” she said. James Timpson, the prisons and probation minister, held a meeting with Serco executives on Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said. “We are holding Serco to account to address delays in fitting some offenders with tags, and will apply financial penalties against the company if this is not resolved quickly,” they added. “While this issue is ongoing, we have prioritised tagging domestic abuse offenders to make sure their licence conditions, such as staying away from their victims, are strictly followed. “This contract was awarded to Serco, following a fair and open process, in October 2023.” Last Tuesday’s early releases from jails across England and Wales included some convicted killers. The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, had announced in July that she would temporarily cut the proportion of sentences which inmates must serve behind bars from 50% to 40%. The government said the measures were necessary as overcrowding had pushed jails to the “point of collapse”. It has also emerged that a prisoner freed from jail early has since appeared in court after allegedly assaulting his ex-partner. Jason Hoganson was pictured on 10 September giving the thumbs up as he left HMP Durham where he had been serving an 18-month sentence for assaulting his former girlfriend in the street. However, within 48 hours, Hoganson, a 53-year-old of no fixed abode, was back in jail after being arrested and charged with two counts of breaching a restraining order by contacting the same former partner and one of assaulting her. A Serco spokesperson said: “Since we took over the electronic monitoring contract in May, we have been working hard to reduce the number of people waiting to have a tag fitted. We work closely with the MoJ and the probation service to fit tags swiftly and prioritise cases based on risk profiles. “Where an individual is not at home when we call to fit a tag, the time taken can be longer. We prioritise making another visit so that people are tagged as soon as possible.”