Electronic Tagging on Release: Surveillance, Stigma, and the Struggle for Employment

The UK government’s decision to expand electronic monitoring, tagging up to 22,000 more individuals annually, is a significant development under the Plan for Change. With £100 million invested, tagging will now begin before release, aiming to close the surveillance gap and increase accountability. On paper, it’s a move designed to reassure communities and support safer reintegration, which is likely to happen. But beneath the surface, it raises complex questions about stigma, visibility, and employability.

For many prison leavers, employment is the cornerstone of rehabilitation. It offers structure, dignity, and a sense of purpose. Yet the presence of a visible tag (they are big, chunky, and hard to hide) can complicate this journey. Will employers be willing to hire someone wearing a tag? Will colleagues feel uneasy? Could tagging unintentionally reinforce the very stigma it seeks to manage?

There’s a delicate balance here. On one hand, tagging may offer reassurance that the individual is being supervised and supported. On the other, it risks becoming a visual marker of “otherness”, a barrier to trust, inclusion, and opportunity.

This is where employment strategy must evolve. We need to educate employers about what tagging represents: not danger, but accountability. We must design pathways that support tagged individuals into meaningful work, not isolate them further.

That means:

• Training hiring managers to understand the context and purpose of tagging

• Creating inclusive policies that focus on skills and potential, not surveillance status

• Partnering with probation services to ensure employment is part of the reintegration plan from day one

Employment reduces reoffending by up to 50%. If tagging is to succeed as a reintegration tool, it must be paired with opportunity, not just oversight.

Instead of feeling like a punishment, let's make monitoring a tool for growth and support. It should help us move forward, not hold us back.