The Ministry of Justice has turned to some of the biggest names in the tech industry for help to cut crime and ease pressure on the criminal justice system.

After the chancellor confirmed in her spring statement £8m from a new £3.25bn ‘transformation fund’ to reduce the amount of ‘form filling’ probation officers have to do, lord chancellor Shabana Mahmood and prisons minister James Timpson yesterday met Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google and other companies to discuss how ‘revolutionary tech’ could tackle violence in prison, better monitor offenders in the community and improve risk assessments.

According to the ministry, curfew tags, which keep offenders at home during certain times, can reduce reoffending by 20%. ‘This demonstrates how even older technology is supporting punishment in the community and cutting crime. The challenge now is to see how newer technology can contribute to help deliver the Government’s Plan for Change to make streets safer,’ the ministry said.

Amazon, Google, Microsoft

Ministers have assembled the US tech companies to explore how they can help tackle prison and probation challenges

Source: Alamy

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Ahead of the meeting, Amanda Sleight, UK public sector general manager at Microsoft, said: ‘Microsoft is committed to advancing the ethical use of AI technology to reduce the administrative burden on prison and probation staff, allowing them more time to focus on delivering high-quality frontline services, reducing recidivism and helping integrate offenders back into society.’

The ministry said yesterday's meeting will be followed by an event 'open to the whole of industry to apply to come back and present their groundbreaking ideas and solutions in the coming months'.

Law Society president Richard Atkinson said technology that can help tackle the prisons crisis and provide extra probational capacity should be explored, ‘but it must be done without compromising quality or public safety as part of a wider programme of investment in capacity and efficiency’.

Atkinson said technology ‘itself is not a silver bullet to addressing issues in our system, but it can facilitate and enable justice when used responsibly and ethically’ – but stressed that transparency about the technology used will be crucial for public confidence.