Ministry of Justice’s g4s electronic tagging a complete disaster

We have described the Ministry of Justice’s handling of electronic tagging as a “textbook case of an outsourcing disaster” in light of criticism by the government’s spending watchdog. A National Audit Office report, ‘The new generation electronic monitoring programme’, published today lays bare failings in the department that have led to a five-year delay. The analysis details poor planning and contract management, and outlines a catalogue of errors and disagreements between the MoJ and contractors. It says the MoJ “has so far failed to achieve value for money” and has pursued “an overly ambitious strategy that was not grounded in evidence”. A stated aim to “encourage innovation by attracting smaller companies” is not reflected by the reality of how the MoJ worked with such firms, and its recent decision to reappoint G4S after previously ditching the firm after the overbilling scandal that emerged in 2013 wrote: