Prison privatisation plan cancelled

Yesterday The Financial Times reported that 'Senior ministers have stepped in to ensure that investigations into Serco and G4S are not too "punitive" amid concerns the outsourcing companies could be driven from Whitehall'. This came on the back of claims by CBI Director General John Cridland that criticism of the companies risked undermining 'a great British export success'.

Today the BBC reports that the planned privatisation of three prisons in South Yorkshire - Hatfield, Lindholme and Moorland - has been cancelled due to ongoing investigations into alleged overcharging by preferred bidder Serco in relation to its electronic monitoring contract.

The news comes as whistleblowers have told the BBC Newsnight programme that the Serco-run London community supervision programme is struggling with supervision failings and inaccurate record keeping.

Related items

Working to the contract (November 19, 2013)
Grayling warned to postpone privatisation of probation (October 29, 2013)
Private prisons. The state they're in (October 14, 2013)
Risky and fundamentally misguided (September 24, 2013)