Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to review operational practice with Serco to ensure that safeguarding actions for electronic monitoring staff are properly implemented.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Releasing information on financial penalties would prejudice, or would likely prejudice, Serco Group Limited’s commercial interests.
To provide the number of outstanding monitoring visits in need of completion by Serco in each of the past 12 months would be of disproportionate cost.
While the backlog of outstanding visits has been significantly reduced, Serco’s overall performance remains below acceptable levels. We continue to hold them to account for that and will not hesitate to impose further financial penalties where necessary.
The performance requirements are detailed within the Key Performance Indicators in the Field and Monitoring Service contract, and these are available on Contracts Finders under Schedule 3 of the contract: Electronic Monitoring Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) - Contracts Finder. Whilst we acknowledge that performance has been unacceptable, the Ministry of Justice continues to hold Serco to account for poor performance and we are overseeing service improvements.
During the procurement of the Field and Monitoring Service contract, all suppliers were required to provide details of their safeguarding processes, and these were assessed as part of the evaluation process. The contract outlines the ongoing audit rights that allow the Ministry of Justice to review all processes. There is an annual assurance test completed by the contract management team to ensure that what suppliers have outlined is being adhered to, and the next assurance is scheduled to be carried out in July 2025.
The Field and Monitoring Service contract is already published and is available on Contracts Finder: Electronic Monitoring Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) - Contracts Finder. Specifically, please refer to the schedules referenced Core Terms and Schedule 3 (Performance).
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timeframe is in which Serco much reach minimum performance standards for electronic tag device installation.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Releasing information on financial penalties would prejudice, or would likely prejudice, Serco Group Limited’s commercial interests.
To provide the number of outstanding monitoring visits in need of completion by Serco in each of the past 12 months would be of disproportionate cost.
While the backlog of outstanding visits has been significantly reduced, Serco’s overall performance remains below acceptable levels. We continue to hold them to account for that and will not hesitate to impose further financial penalties where necessary.
The performance requirements are detailed within the Key Performance Indicators in the Field and Monitoring Service contract, and these are available on Contracts Finders under Schedule 3 of the contract: Electronic Monitoring Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) - Contracts Finder. Whilst we acknowledge that performance has been unacceptable, the Ministry of Justice continues to hold Serco to account for poor performance and we are overseeing service improvements.
During the procurement of the Field and Monitoring Service contract, all suppliers were required to provide details of their safeguarding processes, and these were assessed as part of the evaluation process. The contract outlines the ongoing audit rights that allow the Ministry of Justice to review all processes. There is an annual assurance test completed by the contract management team to ensure that what suppliers have outlined is being adhered to, and the next assurance is scheduled to be carried out in July 2025.
The Field and Monitoring Service contract is already published and is available on Contracts Finder: Electronic Monitoring Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) - Contracts Finder. Specifically, please refer to the schedules referenced Core Terms and Schedule 3 (Performance).
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will publish the number of outstanding electronic monitoring visits in need of completion by Serco in each of the past 12 months.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Releasing information on financial penalties would prejudice, or would likely prejudice, Serco Group Limited’s commercial interests.
To provide the number of outstanding monitoring visits in need of completion by Serco in each of the past 12 months would be of disproportionate cost.
While the backlog of outstanding visits has been significantly reduced, Serco’s overall performance remains below acceptable levels. We continue to hold them to account for that and will not hesitate to impose further financial penalties where necessary.
The performance requirements are detailed within the Key Performance Indicators in the Field and Monitoring Service contract, and these are available on Contracts Finders under Schedule 3 of the contract: Electronic Monitoring Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) - Contracts Finder. Whilst we acknowledge that performance has been unacceptable, the Ministry of Justice continues to hold Serco to account for poor performance and we are overseeing service improvements.
During the procurement of the Field and Monitoring Service contract, all suppliers were required to provide details of their safeguarding processes, and these were assessed as part of the evaluation process. The contract outlines the ongoing audit rights that allow the Ministry of Justice to review all processes. There is an annual assurance test completed by the contract management team to ensure that what suppliers have outlined is being adhered to, and the next assurance is scheduled to be carried out in July 2025.
The Field and Monitoring Service contract is already published and is available on Contracts Finder: Electronic Monitoring Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) - Contracts Finder. Specifically, please refer to the schedules referenced Core Terms and Schedule 3 (Performance).
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will publish the financial penalties issued to Serco in relation to unmet targets for electronic monitoring in each of the past 12 months.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Releasing information on financial penalties would prejudice, or would likely prejudice, Serco Group Limited’s commercial interests.
To provide the number of outstanding monitoring visits in need of completion by Serco in each of the past 12 months would be of disproportionate cost.
While the backlog of outstanding visits has been significantly reduced, Serco’s overall performance remains below acceptable levels. We continue to hold them to account for that and will not hesitate to impose further financial penalties where necessary.
The performance requirements are detailed within the Key Performance Indicators in the Field and Monitoring Service contract, and these are available on Contracts Finders under Schedule 3 of the contract: Electronic Monitoring Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) - Contracts Finder. Whilst we acknowledge that performance has been unacceptable, the Ministry of Justice continues to hold Serco to account for poor performance and we are overseeing service improvements.
During the procurement of the Field and Monitoring Service contract, all suppliers were required to provide details of their safeguarding processes, and these were assessed as part of the evaluation process. The contract outlines the ongoing audit rights that allow the Ministry of Justice to review all processes. There is an annual assurance test completed by the contract management team to ensure that what suppliers have outlined is being adhered to, and the next assurance is scheduled to be carried out in July 2025.
The Field and Monitoring Service contract is already published and is available on Contracts Finder: Electronic Monitoring Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) - Contracts Finder. Specifically, please refer to the schedules referenced Core Terms and Schedule 3 (Performance).
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will publish the contractual terms under which (a) delays and (b) poor performance in Serco's delivery of its electronic monitoring contract would trigger (i) the introduction of a remedial advisor, ((ii) step-In, (iii) consequential losses and (iv) termination rights processes.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Releasing information on financial penalties would prejudice, or would likely prejudice, Serco Group Limited’s commercial interests.
To provide the number of outstanding monitoring visits in need of completion by Serco in each of the past 12 months would be of disproportionate cost.
While the backlog of outstanding visits has been significantly reduced, Serco’s overall performance remains below acceptable levels. We continue to hold them to account for that and will not hesitate to impose further financial penalties where necessary.
The performance requirements are detailed within the Key Performance Indicators in the Field and Monitoring Service contract, and these are available on Contracts Finders under Schedule 3 of the contract: Electronic Monitoring Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) - Contracts Finder. Whilst we acknowledge that performance has been unacceptable, the Ministry of Justice continues to hold Serco to account for poor performance and we are overseeing service improvements.
During the procurement of the Field and Monitoring Service contract, all suppliers were required to provide details of their safeguarding processes, and these were assessed as part of the evaluation process. The contract outlines the ongoing audit rights that allow the Ministry of Justice to review all processes. There is an annual assurance test completed by the contract management team to ensure that what suppliers have outlined is being adhered to, and the next assurance is scheduled to be carried out in July 2025.
The Field and Monitoring Service contract is already published and is available on Contracts Finder: Electronic Monitoring Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) - Contracts Finder. Specifically, please refer to the schedules referenced Core Terms and Schedule 3 (Performance).
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value is of penalty charges imposed on Serco for underperformance in relation to its electronic tagging contract since November 2023.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Serco’s performance is not good enough, and last year’s backlog of outstanding visits has been substantially reduced. We will continue to hold Serco to account and will not hesitate to impose further contract penalties, where necessary, to drive performance improvement.
The Ministry of Justice believes that the information is commercially sensitive and releasing this information would prejudice, or would likely prejudice, Serco Group Limited’s commercial interests.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, since the general election, what (1) number, and (2) proportion, of prisoners released early have been electronically tagged; and what assessment has been made by the Ministry of Justice and its arm's-length bodies as to whether Serco has had sufficient capacity to tag all the prisoners who it was originally deemed should be tagged.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data on SDS40 releases forms a subset of data intended for future publication. The number of prison places projected to be saved by SDS40 releases are set out in the Impact Assessment (between 4,600 and 5,900 prison places for the male estate).
Serco had sufficient capacity in terms of both equipment levels and resources to tag all those being released from custody with an Electronic Monitoring requirement under this scheme. As with all releases from custody, prior notification was issued to Serco with licence notification paperwork to identify numbers and locations of those requiring tagging.
By 04 November, all required visits to attempt tag installation for SDS40 cases had been made.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value has been of contracts held by their Department with (a) G4S, (b) Serco and (c) Capita in each year since 2020.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Ministry of Justice awards contracts to suppliers following a rigorous procurement activity. The successful supplier will be able to provide the goods and services provided with the best value for money to the taxpayer.
The total value of contracts for G4S, Serco and Capita which were held by the Department and Active in the years since 2020, 2021 and 2022 are shown in the following tables:
a) G4S:
Year | Total Value of all Active Contracts |
2020 | £862,754,245 |
2021 | £688,029,750 |
2022 | £1,054,103,396 |
b) Serco:
Year | Total Value of all Active Contracts |
2020 | £1,346,038,866 |
2021 | £1,038,139,364 |
2022 | £1,335,153,142 |
c) Capita:
Year | Total Value of all Active Contracts |
2020 | £563,991,975 |
2021 | £567,722,435 |
2022 | £567,722,435 |
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) fines and (b) other financial penalties have been paid to his Department by (i) Serco and (ii) Serco subsidiaries for failures to meet contractual obligations in each year since 2010.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
This PQ has been interpreted to mean the level of financial remedies that the Ministry of Justice has been in receipt of from Serco, or Serco subsidiaries, in relation to failure to meet contractual performance obligations since 2010.
The Ministry of Justice has been in receipt of the following financial remedies from Serco in relation to failure to meet contractual performance obligations since 2010: We manage all of our contracts with Serco robustly and deal with any performance issues in accordance with the mechanisms of the contracts. Overall our Serco Contracts perform well and the performance management mechanisms in our contracts are effective in addressing any performance concerns.
For privately managed prisons the total value of financial remedies imposed for each financial year has been provided and is included in the below table:
Financial Year | Value of Financial Remedy |
2010/2011 | £35,982 |
2011/2012 | £44,636 |
2012/2013 | £42,337 |
2013/2014 | £190,521 |
2014/2015 | £293,203 |
2015/2016 | £357,040 |
2016/2017 | £568,471 |
2017/2018 | £162,717 |
2018/2019 | £91,703 |
2019/2020 (Q1 reported only | £0 |
For the Prison Escort and Custody Service (PECS) the total value of financial remedies imposed for each financial year has been provided and is included in the below table:
Financial Year | Value of Financial Remedy |
2010/2011 | £157,000 |
2011/2012 | £315,000 |
2012/2013 | £207,000 |
2013/2014 | £478,000 |
2014/2015 | £578,000 |
2015/2016 | £625,000 |
2016/2017 | £525,000 |
2017/2018 | £445,000 |
2018/2019 | £210,000 |
2019/2020 (Year to date) | £9,000 |
For the Hassockfield STC the total value of financial remedies imposed for each financial year has been provided and is included in the below table:
Financial Year | Value of Financial Remedy |
2010/2011 | £0 |
2011/2012 | £0 |
2012/2013 | £990 |
2013/2014 | £2,250 |
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many contracts his Department has awarded to Serco since July 2013; and what the value is of those contracts.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Ministry of Justice has awarded no contracts to Serco since July 2013.
Serco has however been successful in its bid to be a supplier on the Prison Operator Services Framework which was executed on the 4th July 2019. There is no financial value nor commitment of work to the Framework itself. The first competition on this Framework will be for the contract to provide custodial services at HMP Wellingborough. Serco will be entitled to bid for this contract.