Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2016 to Question 22664, when those contract breaches took place; and with what procedures G4S failed to comply.
Andrew Selous
Pursuant to the response to PQ 22664, the two occasions on which financial remedies were applied took place between February and April 2015 and May and July 2015. G4S failed to comply with operational procedures, meaning that the number of incidents that took place was higher than the agreed level. Performance points are accrued when an incident or other custodial service failure occurs. Financial remedies are then applied when the total points exceeds the relevant performance baseline. A performance baseline is allowed in recognition of the complex operational nature of prisons where we know that there will be occasional incidents no matter how well the prison is run. This charge protocol is a longstanding practice in prison contracts.
As the Justice Secretary said last month, the safety and welfare of all those in custody is vital. That is why an independent improvement board has been appointed to provide increased oversight, scrutiny and challenge of managerial arrangements at Medway, in particular in relation to the safeguarding of young people.
