To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the merits of deploying human radio-frequency identification (RFID) microchipping; what meetings he has held on such microchipping; what representations he has received from civil liberties groups on RFID microchipping; and if he will make a statement. (141784)

I have been asked to reply.

We have looked into the merits of deploying this technology in the past but we have not seen any evidence that it would work successfully.

On that basis there have been no representations received by stakeholders from civil liberties groups as there is currently no intention of using this technology.

Instead, a pilot for the use of satellite tracking technology to monitor the compliance of offenders who are subject to exclusion conditions, and to monitor offenders' whereabouts as a condition of a licence on release from prison, took place from September 2004 until June 2006. The pilots are currently the subject of a comprehensive review and an independent evaluation, the results of which are due out later this year.