The Ministry of Justice has awarded a £229m electronic tagging contract to outsourcing giant Capita.

Capita will manage the service for six-years. 

British company Steatite will develop and manufacture the Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment under a contract worth £23.2m; Airbus Defence and Space will provide satellite-mapping in a deal worth £10.4m; and Telefonica will supply the network at a cost of £3.2m.

Last year G4S and Serco were stripped of the previous electronic tagging contract after it emerged that they had overcharged the government ‘tens of millions of pounds’ by tagging people who were dead, in prison or who had left the country. Capita has been running the programme in the interim. 

The MoJ said the new technology will allow it to track offenders in real-time and fit prisoners on temporary release with GPS tags.  

Justice secretary Chris Grayling said: ‘Monitoring the movements of dangerous and repeat offenders will be vital in cutting crime, creating a safer society with fewer victims and ultimately offering greater protection and reassurance to the public.’

He said the new contracts are expected to save the government £20m, compared with the previous contracts with G4S and Serco.

The MoJ said that under the new arrangement, it will have far greater oversight over costs and charging than previously, with direct access to supplier systems to increase transparency.