Electronic monitoring is about more than restricting people to their homes to punish them for a crime

Deputy Justice Minister Iain Gray

Serious offenders who have been released from prison could also be tagged if they are said to pose a risk.

Under the tagging initiative minor offenders have an unobtrusive transmitter placed on their wrist or ankle.

It sends a signal to a central computer where their movements are monitored, providing an effective curfew by restricting the offender's movements outwith certain hours.

An order costs �5,000 to run for six months - compared to �13,000 for a jail sentence.

And it is regarded as being more effective than probation when it comes to helping change offenders' lifestyles.

Roseanna Cunningham: "Cautious welcome"

Deputy Justice Minister Iain Gray announced the extension of the scheme.

He said 418 offenders had been electronically tagged since the pilot scheme was launched in August 1998.

He described the initiative, which mainly sees offenders limited to their own home for up to 12 hours a day, as a success which should now be extended throughout Scotland.

"Electronic monitoring is about more than restricting people to their homes to punish them for a crime," he said.

"It is about limiting the opportunity to repeat the offence and offering stability to move away from an offending lifestyle."

There are also plans to use RLOs as a condition of a probation order or a drug treatment and testing order - and for monitoring of prisoners, such as sex offenders, who are released on licence under supervision.

Prison population

The announcement was welcomed by Donald Dickie, senior manager with community safety organisation Safeguarding Communities Reducing Offending (Sacro).

He said the prison population in Scotland was too high and that not all offenders needed to be locked up.

Mr Dickie also welcomed moves to use tagging on inmates released from prison on licence.

Scottish National Party justice spokeswoman Roseanna Cunningham gave a cautious welcome to the proposals.

She said it was important that the orders were used as a direct alternative to custody.

Electronic tagging must not be an instrument with which the Scottish Executive can empty our prisons

Phil Gallie

But she added: "I am concerned, however, that no timescale has been announced for the provision of orders and I hope that the Scottish government will move quickly to ensure that they are available right across Scotland with no unnecessary delay."

Scots Tory justice spokesman Phil Gallie said he had always been an advocate of tagging.

"However, I never envisaged that this would provide an easy option for criminals.

"At all times our courts must ensure that punishment and deterrence along with protection of the public stands as the highest priority," he said.

"Electronic tagging must not be an instrument with which the Scottish Executive can empty our prisons."