Ad-Hoc Alcohol Monitoring Statistics Publication, Dec 2023
Published 29 December 2023
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 2023
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Main Points
The table below shows a summary of the number of individuals in England and Wales fitted with an alcohol monitoring device at the end of each quarter over the last year up to 30 September 2023, and the provisional number for 30 November 2023.
| Date | Individuals fitted with a monitoring device (rounded to nearest 100) |
|---|---|
| 31 December 2022 | 1,900 |
| 31 March 2023 | 2,200 |
| 30 June 2023 | 2,300 |
| 30 September 2023 | 2,600 |
| 30 November 2023 (Provisional) | 2,800 |
Around 2,800 individuals were fitted with an alcohol monitoring device at the end of November 2023. This is 900 more than the number who were fitted with a monitoring device at the end of December 2022.
Of the alcohol tags used to monitor alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirements (AAMR), as of November 2023 the tags did not register a tamper or alcohol alert 97.3% of the days worn since their introduction in October 2020.
Background
Alcohol monitoring was introduced to courts in Wales in October 2020 and went live throughout England on 31 March 2021 to support the new community sentencing option, the Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirement (AAMR). An AAMR may only be used when sentencing for alcohol-related criminal behaviour and it imposes a total ban on drinking alcohol for up to 120 days. Compliance with the ban is monitored electronically using an alcohol tag which continuously monitors for the presence of alcohol via an offenders’ sweat. A non-compliant event is constituted as either a confirmed alcohol event or a registered tamper with a tag. The compliance rate is a measure of the percentage of compliant days without a registered tamper or alcohol alert across the whole of the AAMR cohort.
Alcohol Monitoring can be imposed by the court as part of a Community Order or Suspended Sentence Order where:
- the offence, or associated offence, for which the requirement is being imposed, is alcohol-related;
- the subject is not alcohol dependent or has an Alcohol Treatment Requirement (ATR) recommended or in place; and
- the subject is an adult (18 years or over)
For offenders being released from custody whose offending and risk is alcohol related, an Alcohol Monitoring on Licence (AML) additional licence condition was introduced in Wales in November 2021 and rolled out to England in June 2022. There are two conditions available for AML:
- requires total abstinence from alcohol, or
- requires the offender to comply with requirements specified by their supervising officer to address their alcohol needs, this will include limiting alcohol use. Alcohol monitoring cannot be used for those under 18.
Notes
The analysis presented is of unique subjects with at least one live AM order (AAMR or AML) and with an alcohol monitoring tag fitted.
The data in this release are compiled from Alcohol Monitoring Services (AMS) contractor data, which in turn is derived from a case management system. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent.
Alcohol Compliance figures are as at 24 November 2023. Compliance with AAMR alcohol monitoring is a cumulative measure, calculated as the total number of days in which the tags have not registered a tamper or alcohol alert divided by the total number of days the tags were fitted. This monitoring data is also used to inform supervision for those with an alcohol tag for licence conditions (AML). Consumption of alcohol may be allowed for some offenders on licence, therefore the compliance methodology used for AAMR reporting does not provide an accurate measure of compliance for this cohort and is not reflected in the compliance statistics.
The numbers included in this release are provisional.
Contact
Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:
Tel: 020 3334 3536
Email: newsdesk@justice.gov.uk
Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to Data and Analysis at the Ministry of Justice:
HMPPS Electronic Monitoring Performance
Data and Analysis, Ministry of Justice
10th Floor
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
Email: ppas_statistics@justice.gov.uk
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Produced by the Ministry of Justice
Alternative formats are available on request from ppas_statistics@justice.gov.uk