Other criminals could be marked because James Timpson insists that he is “not soft for crime”

Prison Minister James Timpson announced that more criminals could be marked in the future instead of being sent to prison – but it insists that it is not “gentle on crime”.

More than 30 companies, including Microsoft and Google, will meet the government today to examine how technology can help to monitor perpetrators in the community more effectively and to combat violence in prison.

Lord Timpson says that it is a potential alternative punishment to mark more people instead of sending them to prison.

But critics have questioned his previous comments that Britain is “addicted” in the conviction and punishment and how “only a third” of the inmates should be in prison.

“I think I'm not quiet on the crime at all,” says Lord Timpson in the far-reaching BBC interview. “I think I'm pretty hard in my style. I'm hard in business, but I use the evidence – and in this job I use the evidence.”

He says he is passionate about the rehabilitation of criminals in prison so that they do not commit any other crimes if they are released. However, more than 26% of adult criminals in England and Wales prove from prison within one year after being released.

“How do we reduce the reinforcement? How do we deal with the drug addiction of people, the psychological health problems and the fact that people leave prison, they don't know where to live, people have no job? This is also a really important part of my work,” he says.

The former CEO of the Timpson Group, which offers important cutting and shoe repair services, is known for the hiring of ex-criminals and is a former chairman of the Prison Reform Trust.

Lord Timpson took on his role in July -Justice Ministry in July last year, when the criminal system in England and Wales was close to Breaking Point. The prisons were full, and months later, thousands of inmates were released early as part of an emergency plan to facilitate overcrowding and release the space.

He says that the prisons are still in a state of the “crisis”, with less than 1,000 replacement places and more than 88,000 people in custody in England and Wales.

“We recently opened HMP Millsiem,” he says, describing the new prison in Category C, which was opened in East Yorkshire in March, with a capacity of up to 1,500 inmates. “We have more cells across the country. We still have to build prison places because the population is increasing.”

Last month, three prison officers were seriously injured in HMP Frankland in Durham after they were attacked by one of the men responsible for the Manchester Arena bombing with provisional weapons and hot oil. Hashem Abedi was used in a separation center – to house a small number of the most dangerous and extremist inmates – in category A, maximum security prison.

“What happened in Franklin is absolutely shocking,” says Lord Timpson. “The measure of violence in prisons is far too high – and it increases.

“Our prison employee did an incredible job. I don't want you to dive and think that there will be violence. I want you to come to work to help people turn their lives.”

However, the number of attacks on the prison employees in prison has been the highest for a decade, from 10,605 in 2024.

Lord Timpson refutes the claim that gangs are responsible for some of the greatest prisons of Great Britain, but recognizes that serious organized crime is the only thing “keeps me awake at night”.

“Serious organized crime brings drugs and creates violence and intimidation in prisons,” he says. “This was a long -term problem in prisons, but it is still a problem if the capacity is as full as it is.

“If we had people who went to prison who did not get drugs and were not intimidated by serious organized criminals, they would be far more likely to deal with a prison sentence and become good enough so that when they go, they do not commit any further crimes.”

The government has commissioned an independent review of the conviction to examine alternatives to prison in order to facilitate overcrowding. The review will provide long-term solutions for the judicial system and examine the use and composition of non-customer-specific sentences, including the community alternatives for prison and the use of fines. An increased marking is also taken into account.

Three types of ankle tags are currently being used to monitor offenders: alcohol, GPS and initial blocks. A new study suggests the day that reduce the initial blocks that reduce the revival of 20%.

“We want you to have a one-way ticket-no return to prison or back to non-customer-specific sentences,” says Lord Timpson.

“What is really important is that we accept the technology and look at the evidence – tagging can have some very important advantages.”

However, the use of electronic tagging for monitoring criminals was problematic. In the past few months, several probation workers have not been informed of the BBC craftsman to be marked. The security company SERCO has been contractually by the government since October 2023 with the administration of the tagging.

“We inherited a contract with Serco and it was anything but perfect,” says Lord Timpson. “We still have a lot of pressure on them, but we have to work together to ensure that people are marked on time.

Anthony Kirby, CEO of the Serco Group, told the BBC that he is pleased that the prison minister has recognized the progress that Serco has made since the takeover of the electronic surveillance service: “We are proud of the role that we have to support the punitive judicial system, monitored the number of people in the municipality and protects public security in partnership with HMPPs.”