Serco saga continues with promise to clean up for prison and custody services
Serco's response to a government-wide review of its prison and custody services has today been updated. (Release)
The review, announced in July and initiated by an independent audit by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), alleged fraud in government-contracted services provided by Serco and G4S:
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. (Release)
The PECS contract, awarded to Serco in 2011, is worth about £285m over seven years. Serco has pledged to meet the costs of improvement following the review and will repay any profit earned since the renewal of the contract, estimated at about £2m.
At the end of August, in response to the review, the company pledged to clean up its act. Today, Chris Hyman, group chief executive, said:
Serco is a business led by its values and built on the strength of its reputation for integrity, and the overwhelming majority of our people work hard every day to deliver important public services effectively. We will not tolerate poor practice and behaviour and wherever it is found we will put it right. I am delighted that someone of Lord Gold's stature and reputation has agreed to provide independent insight to this important programme. This is an opportunity to show who we are and what we stand for. We will embed quickly and effectively any changes needed into the way we do business and I expect Serco to emerge stronger as a result.
With the review underway, the Cabinet Office, who is leading the review, hopes that findings will ensure savings.