Prison Privitisation 3 Prisons Affected Birmingham And Featherstone
Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke said private sector contractors will run three prisons in England, with HMP Birmingham moving from the public sector to private contractor G4S from October.
Doncaster prison will become the first to be run on a ''payment by results'' basis, with contractor Serco getting its full payment only if reoffending rates are reduced, Mr Clarke told the Commons.The new Featherstone 2 prison will be run by G4S but Buckley Hall in Rochdale will remain under the control of the Prison Service.
The Justice Secretary told MPs that the contest for the contracts would secure "significant" quality improvements and savings at all the establishments involved. "This process shows that competition can deliver innovation, efficiency and better value for money for the taxpayer, but also that it can do so without compromising standards. "Before the bids were evaluated for anything else, they needed to demonstrate their fundamental ability to provide safe and secure custodial services. "I can confirm that, over the spending review period, the new contracts will deliver savings of over £21 million for the three existing prisons and, in the same period, the new Featherstone 2 prison will be delivered at £31 million less than the costs originally approved by the previous government.
"Cumulative savings over the lifetime of the contracts in the three existing prisons are a very impressive £216 million." Under the changes announced today, Birmingham will be run by a private contractor after previously being run by the Prison Service.Doncaster was previously run by Serco, but its new contract will only be fully paid if reconviction rates within a year of release are reduced by 5%. The new contracts, including the Prison Service's deal to continue running Buckley Hall, will commence in October. Featherstone 2 is a new jail opening near Wolverhampton and the G4S contract will begin in April 2012. In a statement to MPs Mr Clarke said the competition process which led to today's announcement began under Labour in 2009. As well as the four prisons whose contracts were announced today, Wellingborough was also earmarked for potential privatisation. But Mr Clarke said Wellingborough was withdrawn from the competition process because extra spending was needed to secure its long-term future.
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