BRITISH outsourcers were thrown into chaos yesterday after the justice secretary called for a fraud probe into claims G4S charged “tens of millions of pounds” for tagging criminals who had left the country, were back in prison, or even dead.

G4S wins another tagging contract for the Ministry of Justice, despite £109m fraud scandal and ongoing probeG4S, the security services company which appears unable to do any wrong, has won a new tagging contract despite a fraud scandal which saw it repay almost £109m to the government.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed that G4S has again been selected to supply tagging equipment to keep tabs on offenders, although declined to clarify the details.

A spokesperson said the values and contents of the contracts would be released “in due course”.

“G4S has been selected through an open and competitive tender process to supply tagging equipment as part of a suite of contracts required to provide electronic monitoring services,” the spokesperson said.

 

The Ministry of Justice added that it was committed to getting the best value for money for taxpayers, and that G4S has been subject to “stringent requirements” throughout the tendering process including both quality thresholds and financial standing.

But G4S has not exactly proven its merits in previous contracts it has run for the Ministry of Justice.
In 2013, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opened a criminal investigation into the FTSE 100-listed business and its fellow contractor Serco, which led to the pair being stripped of their tagging contracts.

Read more: G4S and Serco shares plunge on fraud claims

They were accused of overcharging the government by billing for “phantom” offenders, including some who were still in prison or had died.

G4S agreed to pay £108.9m plus tax to the UK government, after its first offer of £24m was refused and the scale of the scandal was revealed to be much greater than initially estimated.

The SFO's probe is still underway, although G4S's ban on bidding for contracts has evidently been lifted.

 

Read more: G4S agrees to tagging payout as profits slide
http://www.cityam.com/article/g4s-and-serco-shares-plunge-fraud-claims

 

 Comments

Jez Mmm let me think, doesn't someone in Downing street have a financial interest in this company??


A real sad case. One has to ask whether there was really the need to send him to prison in the first place. His sentence was short, he was on drugs making him vulnerable. What he needed was help. He didn't need to be put in a toxic oppressive environment which left him trapped alone behind a door with only the company of a mind altering drug. Yet another victim of this governments justice policies. Really sad http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/…/holme-house-prison-inmate-fo…

Same old MoJ stance. They don't even listen to prison officers. As the officer mentions he has taken to drink to cope. No wonder then prisoners take Spice to cope. No drink in there or tobacco either.BBC news http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40519755


Well done Mr Dawson, tell them how it is. Neither the Justice Secretary or the Prison Minister have a clue what they are doing. Their current actions will simply keep the status quo. High suicide rates, high levels of self harm and dangerous and toxic prison environments. A government department in denial that their policies don't work.BBC newshttp://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40544569


Mr Lidington, prisoners take drugs because you took their cigarettes away. People get mobiles because the regime is so short they aren't out of their cell long enough to get through the long queue for the pin phones to chat to their family. You prosecuting them for having such items will not curb there use. These are their life lines for coping in such a toxic environment. All you will do is add to their feeling of hopelessness and increase the suicide rate and increase the p...rison population still further by the many extra month they will be forced to serve. The 2500 officer recruitment you have done hasn't come anywhere near the amount of officers that are leaving. They are leaving because the environment is becoming more and more unsafe. You try taking Spice from someone who is so reliant on it that he will cut himself up if he doesn't have some to get through the long bang up. Your first act should be to address the urgent need for people to have something to help them cope.
1) return prisoners right to smoke. Taking cigarettes away has caused this mass inflation of Spice to occur in the first place. It has also lead to deaths and serious health issues and hospital treatment for officers. It has also increased bullying and debt.
2) increase prisoners food allowance significantly. The food quality and portions are way to low. Fresh vegetables need to be served every day and this isn't expensive to achieve. The pso says food should be wholesome and plentiful. It hasn't been like that for over 6 years.
3) Triple the recruitment drive, get the regime up to an acceptable level. Get these people out of there cells, outside association is essential. New prisons with no natural light in the cells will make mental health issues worse. There is nothing wrong with Victorian prisons but they need a thing called maintenance and you shouldn't over fill them, which is what you have currently done. Your current polices have created this mess. You have been told by the Prison Reform Trust, The Howard League and the Independent Monitoring Board, not forgetting a large number of Coroners where lessons need to be learned and how to address the problems. Still you ignore them. So for every suicide, for every prison officer assault. For every death attributed to failings relating to staffing levels or in experience your government is hereby served notice. This is clear negligence. Sort itBBC news
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40544569


A day as a duty governor. If only they all cared. Sending people to prison with serious mental health issues is pretty much sending them to a very uncertain future
The National Audit Office’s excoriating report on mental health in prisons, published today, paints an alarming picture of what going to prison means for someone with mental health problems. It rightly points out that admirable intentions are not being delivered on the ground.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/peter-dawson/mental-health-prisons_b_17330678.html





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