The Ministry of Justice has announced that they, along with the Directors of Serco, have asked the police to investigate alleged fraudulent behaviour by members of Serco’s staff in their management of their Prisoner Escorting and Custodial Services (PECS) contract. The PECS contract covers a range of services including transporting prisoners between court and prison. Serco are responsible for delivering this in London and East Anglia. Evidence of potentially fraudulent behavior has emerged as part of the audit of all Serco and G4S contracts announced by the Justice Secretary in July. MoJ has informed Serco that in the light of the new evidence, it is putting the contract under administrative supervision with immediate effect. Serco have agreed to repay all past profits made on the PECS contract and to forgo any future profits. If any evidence of corporate as opposed to individual wrongdoing emerges, MoJ will terminate this contract. This announcement is a further blow to the Ministry of Justice plans to privatise Probation as part of its Transforming Rehabilitation reforms. How can taxpayers have any confidence in the ability of the private sector to run probation services following these further revelations of wrong-doing by a major outsourcing company? The news comes hot on the heels of Chris Grayling’s announcement earlier in the summer that both Serco and G4S had been systematically overcharging the taxpayer in relation to the electronic tagging contracts being run for the Ministry of Justice. The full press release is below. Ministry of Justice MoJ audit of SERCO contracts - prison escort services The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Directors of Serco have today asked the police to investigate alleged fraudulent behaviour by members of Serco’s staff in their management of their Prisoner Escorting and Custodial Services (PECS) contract. The PECS contract covers a range of services including transporting prisoners between court and prison. Serco are responsible for delivering this in London and East Anglia. An apparent disparity between Serco’s records of contract performance, and the actual situation on the ground, has been subject to investigation by MoJ for some months. Evidence of potentially fraudulent behaviour has now emerged as part of the detailed audit work announced by the Secretary of State for Justice in the House of Commons in July. It has shown some staff recording prisoners as having been delivered ready for court when in fact they were not – a key performance measure for the contract. MoJ has informed Serco that in the light of the new evidence, it is putting the contract under administrative supervision with immediate effect. Serco have agreed to repay all past profits made on the PECS contract and to forgo any future profits. Serco has confirmed to the MoJ that no member of the Board had knowledge of this practice. If any evidence of corporate as opposed to individual wrongdoing emerges, MoJ will terminate this contract. MoJ and the Cabinet Office have also put Serco on notice that the company will have to undergo a process of corporate renewal, which would include an overhaul of the Serco management responsible, a strengthening of internal audit procedures and opening up all their management and accounting information on Government contracts to much more intense scrutiny by Government. After a three month period, the changes they have put in place will be assessed by a specially convened committee of Government non-executive directors. This committee will advise Government, and unless it is satisfied the changes made by the company are sufficient to guarantee the future integrity of Government contracts, Serco will face exclusion from all new and future work with Government. Secretary of State for Justice Chris Grayling said: ‘It’s become very clear there has been a culture within parts of Serco that has been totally unacceptable, and actions which need to be investigated by the police. ‘We have not seen evidence of systemic malpractice up to board level, but we have been clear with the company - unless it undertakes a rapid process of major change, and becomes completely open with Government about the work it is doing for us, then it will not win public contracts in future. ‘The taxpayer must know that their money is being properly used.’
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 11:44:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015