tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/g4s-7255/articlesG4S – The Conversation2017-02-14T13:04:19Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/709492017-02-14T13:04:19Z2017-02-14T13:04:19ZDespite repeated failings, private firms continue to run asylum housing<p>Just over a year after reports that some people seeking asylum were housed in <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4669721.ece">accommodation with red doors</a>, apparently making it easier for them to be identified, MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee published a critical <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmhaff/637/637.pdf">report</a> in late January into the state of asylum housing in the UK. </p>
<p>Details within the report provide a shameful account of failings by some of the private firms that run asylum housing. The chair of the committee, the Labour MP Yvette Cooper, <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/news-parliament-2015/asylum-accommodation-report-published-16-17/">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The state of accommodation for some asylum seekers and refugees in this country is a disgrace. And the current contract system just isn’t working. Major reforms are needed. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Back in January 2016, The Times called the red doors for asylum seekers “<a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4669721.ece">apartheid on the streets of Britain</a>”. The private security contractor involved, G4S, <a href="http://www.libdemvoice.org/lib-dem-suzanne-fletcher-on-today-programme-talking-about-her-fight-against-red-doors-policy-49064.html">had not addressed</a> concerns raised <a href="https://theconversation.com/degrading-living-conditions-for-asylum-seekers-are-fuelled-by-privatisation-53923">about the doors</a> with its subcontractor Jomast, potentially exposing people to the risk of hate crime. </p>
<p>G4S <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4669721.ece">insisted</a> it had no policy of painting the doors of asylum housing red. In early May 2016, it <a href="http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/the-work-of-the-immigration-directorates-q1-2016/written/34238.html">wrote</a> to the Home Affairs Select Committee, to say that “the majority of doors are no longer red” and that “any further repainting that might be necessary will be funded by G4S”.</p>
<p>Despite these concerns, in December 2016, the UK government decided to extend and expand the contract with G4S, as well as the contracts with the companies Serco and Clearsprings – neither of which was involved in the red doors incident. The extension was made by the immigration minister Robert Goodwill, who lodged a <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Lords/2016-12-08/HLWS333/">short written statement</a> in parliament announcing the government would take the option of extending the current Commercial and Operating Managers Procuring Asylum Support contracts for asylum support – known as COMPASS – until 2019. These primarily provide accommodation, transport and other related services for people seeking asylum. </p>
<p>The announcement got little coverage, but is a deeply concerning decision. </p>
<h2>A litany of complaints</h2>
<p>The background to COMPASS stems to 2012, when <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmhaff/145/14504.htm#note10">six contracts</a> were awarded to G4S, Serco and Clearsprings. COMPASS was worth more than £620m – the largest contract ever awarded by the Home Office. The decision to award welfare housing for people seeking asylum to private companies <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news/asylum-accommodation-substantive/">removed the expertise</a> of 13 specialist providers, mainly local authorities. </p>
<p>G4S is one the world’s largest security employers, but when it was given the contract, like Serco, it <a href="https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmhaff/637/63703.htm#_idTextAnchor005">had no experience</a> of providing asylum housing. The company is the subject of a number of serious allegations regarding <a href="https://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/news/press-releases-and-statements/liberty-and-40-other-organisations-demand-inquiry-after-infamous">failure to protect</a> those in its care. </p>
<p>Serco has also received complaints. These include <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/14/female-detainees-yarls-wood-report-privacy-immigration-detention-centre-sexual-abuse">allegations of the mistreatment of women</a> in relation to its contract for the Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre. An <a href="https://www.channel4.com/news/yarls-wood-immigration-removal-detention-centre-investigation">undercover Channel 4 News report</a> in 2015 showed Serco staff at the facility referring to detainees as “animals”, “beasties” and “bitches”. After carrying out an independent review into the allegations, in January 2016 <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/c5be2038-bac2-11e5-b151-8e15c9a029fb">Serco pledged</a> to improve conditions including hiring more staff and removing barbed wire. </p>
<p>The decision to extend the COMPASS contracts also flew in the face of three damning parliamentary inquiries – two <a href="https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/tcs/asylum_support_inquiry_report_final.pdf">in</a> <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmhaff/71/71.pdf">2013</a> and one in <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news/asylum-accommodation-substantive">2014</a> – which have included allegations of malpractice and mismanagement of the asylum accommodation contract. </p>
<p>In 2014, the National Audit Office also <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/report/compass-contracts-provision-accommodation-asylum-seekers">found</a> G4S and Serco failed to meet key performance targets “notably relating to the standards of property” and their “poor performance[s]”. This failure led to fines which <a href="http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/fc8e1ca0-0eb1-45f6-8c9d-45c8b25c0cbd?in=09:29:59">stood at</a> £5.6m in 2013-14. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmhaff/637/637.pdf">new report</a> from MPs indicates a continuation of the dismal housing conditions. Problems include: a house with a known asbestos risk, vulnerable women placed in mixed-sex accommodation; children living with the presence of vermin (infestations of mice, rats or bed bugs); women in the late stages of pregnancy being placed in rooms up several flights of stairs, and unrelated individuals being made to share a bedroom. “No one should be living in conditions like that,” <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/news-parliament-2015/asylum-accommodation-report-published-16-17/">said</a> Cooper. </p>
<p>Yet, the COMPASS contracts, which were due to end in August 2017, have been extended for two more years. The government did little to explain its decision, but in his <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2016-12-08/HCWS335/">written statement</a> Goodwill said he recognised that “there are improvements that can be made”. As a result, the amount of money that the Home Office pays has been increased, and a new higher price band introduced for any increases in the number of asylum seekers requiring accommodation. The additional money will also allow the contracted companies (G4S, Serco and Clearsprings) to increase their property portfolios and widen the areas in which they operate. </p>
<h2>Warnings ignored</h2>
<p>G4S has attracted <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-01-%2011/debates/16011114000003/PrisonsAndSecureTrainingCentresSafety">censure</a> in parliament over a number of years. A number of MPs, including the <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2013-07-%2011/debates/13071159000006/ElectronicTagging">now mayor of London Sadiq Khan</a>, have specifically called for G4S not to be awarded further government contracts. </p>
<p>In 2012, Keith Vaz, the former chair of the Home Affairs Committee, suggested the government <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/news/120921-olympics-rpt-published/">should</a> “establish a register of high-risk companies that have failed in the delivery of public services”. Such a register would allow MPs to consider whether G4S, and other private companies, are suitable for bidding for further government contracts – such as those running asylum housing – and prohibit those who are not from bidding or being awarded. </p>
<p>In September 2016, Liberty and 40 other organisations <a href="https://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/news/press-releases-and-statements/liberty-and-40-other-organisations-demand-inquiry-after-infamous">demanded an inquiry</a> after G4S was awarded the contract to deliver the Equality Advisory Support Service, which provides expert advice and assistance on issues relating to equality and human rights across England, Scotland and Wales. </p>
<h2>A way forward</h2>
<p>Many of us who have worked with people seeking asylum during the <a href="http://www.symaag.org.uk/2016/09/14/rats-in-the-yard-4-years-of-uk-asylum-housing-by-g4s/">challenges of COMPASS</a> believe the contract and provision of asylum housing would be better transferred to a consortia of local authorities. In its report, the Home Affairs Select Committee <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmhaff/637/637.pdf">suggests</a> arrangements “could have been replaced with a better approach when the term of the contracts ended”. It argues that local authorities are crucial to COMPASS, recommending immediate action to transfer the necessary resources to enable local authorities to improve standards and monitoring – including giving them powers of inspection, higher standards and new penalties, and report publicly on their findings. </p>
<p>Looking to the future after 2019, Cooper <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/news-parliament-2015/asylum-accommodation-report-published-16-17/">concluded</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When the current contracts run out, they should be replaced with a completely new system – handing power back to local areas to decide on asylum accommodation rather than this top down approach. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Asylum housing should be delivered by voluntary sector and statutory providers who know and understand the local area, and are committed to ensuring that people are treated with dignity and are accommodated in safe, secure and suitable housing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70949/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council in the form of a 1+3 scholarship (2010 -2014) for her PhD research into the stories of women seeking asylum. In 2014 - 2015, she received funding from the Nationwide Children’s Research Centre to carry out research into asylum support for children and young people. Kate is employed by and a member of WomenCentre Kirklees where she works within the Women in Exile service for women seeking asylum, refugees and new migrants. </span></em></p>The government has extended a contract with private security companies G4S and Serco.Kate Smith, Research fellow, Asylum and Migration Centre for Applied Childhood, University of HuddersfieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/666602016-10-07T14:32:35Z2016-10-07T14:32:35ZTagging more offenders can’t just be quick fix for prison numbers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140860/original/image-20161007-8956-1si9wcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">24-hour surveillance people. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankle_monitor#/media/File:Bracelet_électronique.JPG">Wikimedia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Electronic tagging of offenders is going to be considerably expanded in Scotland under new plans <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-37544706">announced</a> by the Scottish government, part of a wider trend towards <a href="http://28uzqb445tcn4c24864ahmel.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2016/06/EMEU-Creativity-and-effectiveness-in-EM-Long-version.pdf">more tagging</a> across much of Europe. Where this kind of monitoring is only currently used in Scotland to track convicted offenders for periods of time at home, <a href="http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Expanding-tagging-sentences-2c5a.aspx">in future</a> it will be used for suspects awaiting trial who would otherwise be remanded in custody. </p>
<p>GPS monitoring will be introduced to make it possible to monitor offenders without restricting them to the home for the first time and there are also proposals to trial tags that monitor alcohol levels in the sweat of offenders whose crimes are deemed to be linked to problems with alcohol. </p>
<p>First rolled out in Scotland in 2002, electronic tagging has been slowly expanding ever since. It <a href="http://28uzqb445tcn4c24864ahmel.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2016/06/EMEU-Creativity-effectiveness-EM-Brief_English.pdf">currently</a> accounts for some 11% of all people detained by the criminal justice system. Extending its use <a href="http://28uzqb445tcn4c24864ahmel.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2016/06/EMEU-Creativity-effectiveness-EM-Brief_English.pdf">mirrors</a> trends seen elsewhere in Europe. Many countries already use GPS monitoring, for example. England and Wales are particularly heavy users of tags, while the likes of the Netherlands and Germany use the technology to a lesser extent.</p>
<p>Extending electronic monitoring is attractive to the Scottish government for several reasons. It makes it easier to tailor punishments to the individual and allow them to maintain contact with their families and keep their employment. This is part of a <a href="http://scottishjusticematters.com/wp-content/uploads/SJM_1-2_December2013_ReframingCustodyLo-Res.pdf">wider policy agenda</a> to reduce reoffending with what are <a href="http://www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/17101-assetBasedApproachestoHealthImprovementBriefing.pdf">known as</a> “asset-based approaches”, which essentially aim to empower individuals. We see them in other areas such as public health and <a href="http://www.abcdinstitute.org/docs/What%20isAssetBasedCommunityDevelopment(1).pdf">community development</a>.</p>
<p>An equally important priority for the government is reducing Scotland’s prison population, including those people on remand. It is <a href="http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison_population_rate?field_region_taxonomy_tid=14">currently</a> one of the highest in Western Europe at 142 per 100,000 (only England and Wales is slightly higher at 146 per 100,000 – albeit dwarfed by Russia’s 447 and the US’s 693). </p>
<p>Imprisonment incurs massive financial and social costs – and the Scottish government has <a href="http://www.gov.scot/About/Review/spc/About/Review/penalpolicy">long said</a> this must change. Criminal justice professionals refer to electronic tagging reducing prison numbers at the “front door” for remand prisoners; and at the “back door” for releasing prisoners sooner from prison subject to conditions and restrictions. </p>
<p>This is just one of a range of tools the Scottish government is using to address its high prison population. Others include <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/09/8223">reducing the use of</a> short prison sentences and <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Justice/policies/reducing-reoffending/community-justice">reforming</a> community justice services – both of these on the back of <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13200823.SNP_law_against_short_jail_terms__ignored__in_courtrooms/">previous</a> related <a href="http://scottishjusticematters.com/redesigning-community-justice-scotland/">attempts</a>. </p>
<h2>What could go wrong</h2>
<p>Whether more electronic tagging is merely a short-term fix for the prison population or helps reduce reoffending in the longer term depends on the context in which it is used. Simply placing individuals on a tag and restricting their liberty will not address factors underpinning offending behaviour. </p>
<p>Scotland’s last big extension to tagging <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0043/00434434.pdf">in 2006</a> did not have the desired effect. Widely perceived as a move to reduce prison overcrowding, a failure to incorporate other strategies, particularly around sentencing, meant that the number of prisoners kept rising. </p>
<p>This time it is vital that increasing the role of the companies who monitor tags – currently <a href="http://www.g4s.com">G4S</a> – complements the role of criminal justice social workers and other points of contact for offenders, rather than replacing them. These people are considerably skilled at helping offenders and suspects change their behaviour, but they are already stretched. If there’s going to be an increased pool of individuals on community sentences, these support workers need more resources. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tagging contractor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:G4S,Västberga_2009x.jpg#/media/File:G4S,Västberga_2009x.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
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<p>It also needs to be ensured that increased tagging doesn’t lead to a creeping increase in the number of people in the criminal justice system. It must not make a community sentence a more attractive option than no sentence at all, or extend a sentence beyond what would currently be imposed. This is what is known as “up-tariffing” and “net widening”. </p>
<p>As for using what has been dubbed the “sobriety tag”, this is no doubt influenced by insights from Scotland’s <a href="http://www.actiononviolence.org.uk">Violence Reduction Unit</a> into the links between crime and problematic alcohol consumption. But monitoring sobriety will clearly only help people alongside substantial support aimed at addressing this problem. This area needs considered carefully. </p>
<h2>Supervision nation</h2>
<p>Scotland is right to prioritise moving away from its shamefully high levels of imprisonment, but we shouldn’t be certain that expanding electronic monitoring will reduce the prison population on its own. </p>
<p>Directly comparable statistics are unfortunately not available, but <a href="http://28uzqb445tcn4c24864ahmel.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2016/06/EMEU-Creativity-effectiveness-EM-Brief_English.pdf">research cautions</a> us not to be too optimistic: jurisdictions with high rates of imprisonment also have high rates of electronic monitoring. Scotland has entered an era of mass supervision <a href="http://www.offendersupervision.eu/blog-post/from-mass-incarceration-to-mass-supervision">alongside</a> many other European countries. Community sentences have been growing alongside prison sentences rather than replacing them. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Eyes have it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-416365552/stock-photo-eye-of-providence-in-a-triangles-illustration-perfect-visual-illustration-for-any-disc-or-book-cover-commercial-and-advertising-board-can-be-also-suitable-for-art-project-banner-or-web.html?src=88LjH8hW14Fbu4fszwrilg-1-26">STVinMotion</a></span>
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<p>While we might argue that electronic tagging is at least less draconian than a prison sentence, such punishments fall under the radar of public concern in a way that the effects of imprisonment do not. This might make it more attractive in a political climate that supports cutting prison populations, yet we should also be wary of the increased use of any criminal sanction.</p>
<p>The results of these reforms need to be closely scrutinised in the coming years to make sure they fulfil their potential and are not simply another quick and easy fix to reduce the prison population. Electronic monitoring still restricts people’s liberty and represents an infliction of pain from the state.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66660/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrina Morrison is a part-time learning and development researcher for the Scottish Prison Service, though the views in this piece are entirely in her academic capacity.</span></em></p>Scotland is about to greatly expand its use of tags to have more prisoners serve sentences in their homes and communities.Katrina Morrison, Lecturer in Criminology, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/539232016-02-08T12:53:36Z2016-02-08T12:53:36ZDegrading living conditions for asylum seekers are fuelled by privatisation<p>Asylum seekers awaiting a decision <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c137.html">on their claim for protection</a> in the UK have been put at risk by a system that outsources their housing to private companies rather than local councils. </p>
<p>There was a national outcry in January <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4669721.ece">when The Times</a> revealed that asylum seekers in some parts of Middlesborough were living in houses with red doors, and that some had been the target of hate crime.</p>
<p>These crimes included threats, property damage and harassment, <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4675304.ece">such as</a> smearing dog excrement against home entrances and throwing eggs and stones at windows. The National Front logo <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/01/20/asylum-seekers-red-front-door-apartheid-policy-times-g4s-jomast_n_9025120.html">carved into one door</a> left little doubt about the reasons the occupants were being targeted. </p>
<p>The company contracted to provide the housing, G4S, had used a sub-contractor, called Jomast which <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/25/wristbands-red-doors-refugees-history-rhyming-holocaust-echoes-of-past">denied</a> any policy of identifying asylum housing, saying it “uses red paint across its portfolio of properties”. </p>
<p>Yet Suzanne Fletcher, a retired Liberal Democrat councillor, identified the problem of the red doors to <a href="http://www.libdemvoice.org/lib-dem-suzanne-fletcher-on-today-programme-talking-about-her-fight-against-red-doors-policy-49064.html">G4S more than four years ago</a>. She suggests that it may not have been the original intention of G4S to identify asylum housing, but that they did not respond to the complaints and the red doors made it easy for the asylum accommodation to be identified.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"689745383522590720"}"></div></p>
<p>Days after this made national headlines, the <a href="http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/Odca3772-f15a-434d-ae59-1ec153372066">Parliamentary Home Affairs Committee</a> took evidence from those contracted by the Home Office to provide asylum housing. Stuart Monk, managing director of Jomast, claimed the housing was “a product suitable for asylum seekers”. But the Labour MP Chuka Umunna challenged housing providers such as Jomast: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You buy up cheap homes in some of the most deprived communities and you’re making money out of housing some of the most vulnerable and poor people. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The move to privatise</h2>
<p>Housing those seeking asylum used to be managed differently. From 1999 onwards, local councils provided asylum housing under the auspices of the National Asylum Support Service, ensuring that asylum provision was a small but significant element of general welfare provision. </p>
<p>A 2006 renegotiation of contracts allowed private sector operators to bid for these contracts and by 2012 council provision had ceased entirely. That year, the Home Office awarded six COMPASS (Commercial and Operating Managers Procuring Asylum Support) contracts to the profit-making security <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmhaff/145/14504.htm#note10#note10">companies G4S, Serco and a joint venture between Reliance and Clearsprings</a>, none of whom had previous experience of housing people seeking asylum. Worth £620m, COMPASS was the largest contract ever awarded by the Home Office.</p>
<p>Concerns about the quality and security of the asylum housing have been <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/author/john-grayson">well-documented</a>. In a 2014 report, the National Audit Office <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/report/compass-contracts-provision-accommodation-asylum-seekers/">found</a> G4S and Serco failed to meet key performance targets “notably relating to the standards of property”. </p>
<p>A parliamentary inquiry into asylum support for children and young people in 2013, led by Sarah Teather MP, <a href="http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/news-views/press-release/woeful-asylum-support-pushes-children-and-families-destitution">took evidence</a> from a number of people seeking asylum. It highlighted in distressing detail that families are being forced to live in cramped, crowded, dirty and unsafe accommodation in areas where they are subjected to abuse.</p>
<p>The inquiry had little effect on housing provision for those seeking asylum. In April 2014, the Public Accounts Committee <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news/asylum-accommodation-substantive/">reported</a> on asylum accommodation and COMPASS. It’s chair, the Labour MP Margaret Hodge, drew attention to “the loss of the knowledge of experienced specialist providers”, pointing to the important role previously held by local councils and the specialist knowledge necessary to deliver such contracts.</p>
<p>Far from provision of housing for asylum seekers improving under privatisation, this evidence suggests that things are getting much worse.</p>
<h2>Councils stepping up</h2>
<p>Although councils are no longer contracted to provide asylum housing, providers must obtain a licence from the local authority for any properties used as shared accommodation and <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/report/compass-contracts-provision-accommodation-asylum-seekers/">must seek approval</a> for new properties they wish to use to house asylum seekers. In Kirklees, West Yorkshire, statutory service providers monitor COMPASS to try and ensure housing providers abide by their contractual agreements. In Sheffield, asylum rights groups working with the council have <a href="http://www.symaag.org.uk/2015/03/24/1302/">stopped the practice</a> of unrelated adults being forced to share bedrooms. </p>
<p>In 2015, <a href="https://glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=30559&p=0">Glasgow</a> and <a href="http://sheffielddemocracy.moderngov.co.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=11450">Sheffield</a> City Councils both called for a review of COMPASS contracts. These types of initiatives may influence the procurement and management of asylum housing, but there are no legal obligations for contractors to follow the advice of statutory services, such as police cohesion officers or school placement officers. </p>
<p>The contracted companies <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/10287-001-accommodation-for-asylum-seekers-Book.pdf">feel that some local authorities</a> are taking too rigorous an approach to housing standards. Yet, with the councils’ role removed, greater vigilance is required around how those seeking asylum are housed. </p>
<p>The recent red doors scandal has prompted some action. Immigration minister James Brokenshire has commissioned Home Office officials to conduct an urgent audit of asylum seeker housing <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/25/wristbands-red-doors-refugees-history-rhyming-holocaust-echoes-of-past">in the north east</a> and Keith Vaz, chair of the Home Office Affairs Committee, <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news/asylum-accommodation-substantive/">suggested</a> it would launch a full inquiry into the COMPASS contract. For those living in substandard housing, those developments cannot come quickly enough.</p>
<p>The decision – taken by the Labour government and continued under the coalition and the Conservatives – to outsource these contracts significantly changed the culture and reshaped the provision of housing that people seeking asylum rely upon. It is time to give detailed consideration to the way in which the state should respond to the housing needs of those seeking asylum. </p>
<p>By privatising housing services previously provided under councils, we have exposed people seeking asylum to the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-35358925">“ill-judged” decisions</a> of some private companies. Instead, we need to reconcile housing provision with the dignity, respect and safety of people seeking asylum.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53923/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council in the form of a 1+3 scholarship (2010 -2014) for her PhD research into the stories of women seeking asylum. In 2014 - 2015, she received funding from the Nationwide Children’s Research Centre to carry out research into asylum support for children and young people. Kate is employed by and a member of WomenCentre Kirklees where she works within the Women in Exile service for women seeking asylum, refugees and new migrants. </span></em></p>The recent red door asylum seeker housing scandal has highlighted the cracks in the system.Kate Smith, Research fellow, Asylum and Migration Centre for Applied Childhood, University of HuddersfieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/236472014-03-05T19:24:59Z2014-03-05T19:24:59ZManus Island takes Australia to the edge of outsourcing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43006/original/hhk4n9ts-1393889701.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's a worldwide push to outsource activities previously left to the state.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/diacimages/5775025136/sizes/l/">DIBP Images/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The awarding of a <a href="http://tse.live.irmau.com/IRM/Company/ShowPage.aspx/PDFs/1906-97970553/TSEreceivesLetterofIntentforImmigrationcontract">A$1.22 billion contract</a> to Transfield Services to run the Manus Island and Nauru detention centres is yet another example of a government handing over responsibility to other parties for what have long been core activities of the state. </p>
<p>A decreasing number of very large, for-profit firms, sometimes housed in <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/detention-firm-gs4-received-a-refund-from-the-tax-office-20140228-33r4i.html">tax havens</a>, are picking up more and more complex, politically sensitive <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/png-staff-to-keep-security-jobs-at-manus-island-detention-centre-20140224-33d5e.html">services on behalf of government,</a> including everything from courthouse security, prisons and para-military services to the more recent detention centre services.</p>
<p>Big global contractors have emerged in these markets. G4S, which up until recently had held the contract for services on Manus Island, <a href="http://www.g4s.com/en/Who%20we%20are/">operates</a> in 125 countries, employs some 625,000 people and delivers a range of services to governments across the world. According to its website these range from <a href="http://health.au.g4s.com/about/?content=customers">patient transport</a> in Victoria to <a href="http://www.g4s.com/en/What%20we%20do/Sectors/Government/Homeland%20security/">patrolling the US-Mexico border</a>, to running the world’s second largest private prison in <a href="http://www.g4s.com/en/What%20we%20do/Sectors/Government/Justice%20dept/">South Africa</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.tenders.gov.au/?event=public.advancedsearch.keyword&keyword=transfield+services">AusTender database</a> shows that <a href="http://www.transfieldservices.com">Transfield Services</a> has (or does) provide the Australian government with a range of services from floor coverings, to the operation and maintenance of a detention centre in Nauru (<a href="https://www.tenders.gov.au/?event=public.cn.view&CNUUID=55024406-F93F-1207-A8A6AC5D5060626C">valued at over $3.2M</a> for just over one year). </p>
<p>Its competitor <a href="http://www.serco-ap.com.au/our-services/sectors/justice/">Serco</a> provides everything from prisons in New Zealand to court and custodial services in Australia, but has also drawn down substantial amounts of government funds through delivering onshore detention centres. According to the Hansard copy of the <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/estimate/5972266f-4662-4bc3-a322-e674390efe88/toc_pdf/Legal%20and%20Constitutional%20Affairs%20Legislation%20Committee_2014_02_25_2256.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22committees/estimate/5972266f-4662-4bc3-a322-e674390efe88/0000%22">Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Estimates Committee</a> between 2009-2014 the detention centre contracts awarded to Serco were worth A$2.14 billion and immigration housing was worth $195.4 million (page 89). </p>
<h2>Lessons from the US</h2>
<p>The concentration of the firms providing such services in the US was highlighted in the <a href="http://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/cwc/20110929213815/http://www.wartimecontracting.gov/">Commission on Wartime Contracting</a> report, released in 2011. It estimated that more than US$200 billion had been spent on contracts and grants in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, with the top 22 contractors sharing almost US$140 billion (2002-2011) of that. As a result, the report found the US government had been placed in a very risky and costly position for many contingency-support functions.</p>
<p>In his <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/world/asia/getting-tough-on-immigrants-to-turn-a-profit.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">in-depth article</a> from the New York Times in 2011, Nick Bernstein took us into the world of large and growing multinationals that have turned the immigration crackdown, as he called it, into a burgeoning business opportunity. Australia, he argued was leading the international pack in handing over operational aspects of its ever more complex immigration policies to external parties. CEOs of major outsourcing firms cited by Bernstein openly discussed the market for justice, the business opportunities from political crisis, and the dwindling levels of competition in areas of ever-increasing demand. </p>
<h2>Muddying the waters</h2>
<p>The situation in Australia is complicated by successive governments seeing fit to outsource their immigration problems not only to large for-profit security companies, but to other nations. This not only confuses the boundaries, but makes accountability and responsibility for various parts of this operation ambiguous. </p>
<p>Despite the commercial contracts between the Commonwealth and G4S, the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Scott Morrison, stated in his <a href="http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/sm/2014/sm212027.htm">press conference</a> on February 21:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Under arrangements made by the former government, control and management of the centre is placed within the PNG government, consistent with their sovereign responsibility. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>He also noted that the current government fully endorsed this approach. Under intense questioning during <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/estimate/5972266f-4662-4bc3-a322-e674390efe88/toc_pdf/Legal%20and%20Constitutional%20Affairs%20Legislation%20Committee_2014_02_25_2256.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22committees/estimate/5972266f-4662-4bc3-a322-e674390efe88/0000%22">Senate Estimates</a>, however, it was made clear that the Department, via its contract, can exercise influence over who is employed in the centres (page 71). The mixed messages and complex arrangements provide the potential for confusion in practice; just who is really in charge?</p>
<h2>Getting the contract ‘right’</h2>
<p>In appointing Transfield Services, the minister <a href="http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/sm/2014/sm212027.htm">explained</a> he was seeking a more “integrated approach” to offshore processing. In practice this consolidates substantial operations with Transfield Services, increasing its market power. Part of the driver for this, according to the minister, was to address what seem to be issues of quality of service with the multinational provider G4S: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>… one of the things we thought we needed offshore, and that has clearly been borne out I think by recent events, is … a more integrated contract management and system in process (sic) that was operating across both islands. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The previous government, he claimed, had taken a “fairly ad-hoc approach to these contractual arrangements”. Such fast and loose contracting, therefore, must be able to be solved by cleaning up the arrangements; and these factors look to have influenced the announcement in December that the G4S contract would not be renewed. </p>
<p>Under questioning in Senate Estimates, however, the <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/estimate/5972266f-4662-4bc3-a322-e674390efe88/toc_pdf/Legal%20and%20Constitutional%20Affairs%20Legislation%20Committee_2014_02_25_2256.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22committees/estimate/5972266f-4662-4bc3-a322-e674390efe88/0000%22">Secretary of the Department</a> Martin Bowles indicated the transition from G4S to Transfield Services had nothing to do with performance, and more to do with the “synergies” to be gained from having one contractor across multiple locations (page 55). Although on further questioning Bowles noted that Transfield Services has not been delivering “welfare” services on Nauru, a range of activities that were previously provided by the Salvation Army on Manus Island, so this was not just an expansion of existing services, but work for which they had never tendered for on either site (pages 86-87).</p>
<p>This line of argument takes us down the track of thinking that getting the contract “right” will help prevent such problems in the future. </p>
<p>Asked in a press conference how the safety of asylum seekers could be guaranteed, Scott Morrison argued it could be done:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Through the safety standards and the contracts of lawful conduct … by providers and I think the strong management of our people who are supporting the PNG government. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43002/original/vvgcxjmz-1393889207.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43002/original/vvgcxjmz-1393889207.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43002/original/vvgcxjmz-1393889207.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43002/original/vvgcxjmz-1393889207.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43002/original/vvgcxjmz-1393889207.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43002/original/vvgcxjmz-1393889207.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43002/original/vvgcxjmz-1393889207.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">G4S has faced intense scrutiny in the UK.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/8449831023/sizes/o/">ell brown/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/155097545/Manus-Island-detention-facility-contract">The contract</a> for services on Manus Island between G4S and the Commonwealth of Australia, released under an FOI request and published online by New Matilda, shows it was largely specified as a collection of cleaning, gardening and security services wrapped up with plenty of rhetoric on collaboration, “transferee” health, wellbeing and dignity, with much detail to be worked out later (e.g. performance frameworks). </p>
<p>While activities such as cleaning, security and gardening are part and parcel of providing detention services, is this really it? Can government really specify here what it wants to buy? And can it construct accountability mechanisms and measures we should be demanding in these extraordinarily sensitive areas of government activity?</p>
<h2>Not your average contract</h2>
<p>In theory at least, the power of a contract comes from the ability of the purchaser, in this case government, to enforce standards, sue for breach, extract damages, and punish contractors who fail to deliver. </p>
<p>In practice though, just how willing are governments to actually do this, and do they have the necessary resources and skills to follow through? </p>
<p>When we combine the power of the contract with intense competition in provider markets, governments should be big winners with lower prices and higher quality. In reality, the situation is much more complicated with profound challenges in specifying services, either an unwillingness or inability of purchasers to wield a big stick, and highly contorted supplier markets in some areas. As Bernstein argued in his piece, it’s remarkably rare for firms in the “market for justice” to lose their contracts. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-outsource-or-not-to-outsource-it-all-depends-10105">our work</a> we have found that the most complex and potentially risky areas of outsourcing are inevitably in situations where the government hands over its monopoly on legal force to external parties or involves them in sensitive areas, points stressed in the US Commission on Wartime Contracting report. </p>
<p>There are three different types of benefits and costs for government to weigh up when making a decision to outsource. </p>
<p>The first is value for money - difficult to analyse in the Manus Island case given the mixed messages that came out of <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/estimate/5972266f-4662-4bc3-a322-e674390efe88/toc_pdf/Legal%20and%20Constitutional%20Affairs%20Legislation%20Committee_2014_02_25_2256.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22committees/estimate/5972266f-4662-4bc3-a322-e674390efe88/0000%22">Senate Estimates</a> about synergies, streamlining and efficiencies on the one hand, but the suggestion of higher costs of processing offshore compared to onshore (page 88). The second is relationships. In the case of Manus Island this is muddied by the political relationships between the Australian and PNG governments that are bundled in with the broader service delivery story. </p>
<p>Then there are the strategic costs and benefits - reputation effects, loss of core competencies, and the inability to control the situation. Even if we knew that there were value for money and relational benefits in the case of Manus Island (and we don’t), the strategic costs accruing to the Australian government in this case are profound politically, ethically and morally. </p>
<p>Creating multi-billion dollar contracts with large multinational firms for the handling of asylum seekers is not only strategically risky for government, it has surely pushed us over the edge of our tolerance for outsourcing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23647/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janine O'Flynn has received research funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Public Service Commission, and the Brotherhood of St Laurence. </span></em></p>The awarding of a A$1.22 billion contract to Transfield Services to run the Manus Island and Nauru detention centres is yet another example of a government handing over responsibility to other parties…Janine O'Flynn, Professor of Public Management, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/224242014-01-31T09:53:26Z2014-01-31T09:53:26ZBad design breeds violence in sterile megaprisons<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40125/original/8bwx3zyf-1390999819.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">HMP Oakwood, the vanguard of British carceral design.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">John M/Creative Commons.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the first few weeks of 2014, private security company G4S has repeatedly had to deny reports of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/23/g4s-significant-event-oakwood-prison-riot?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487">full-scale riots</a> at the UK’s newest prison, HMP Oakwood, near Wolverhampton. The prison has experienced widely reported problems since it opened in April 2012, including assaults, rooftop protests and an <a href="http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/inspectorate-reports/hmi-prisons/prison-and-yoi/oakwood">Inspectorate of Prisons Report</a>, following an unannounced visit, that declared it unsafe, with high levels of victimisation and a passive and compliant (“almost to the point of collusion”) staff culture. </p>
<p>While the incidents mentioned in the inspection report were initially dismissed as teething troubles, the latest news reports – which claim that ambulances are called to the prison on an almost daily basis, and that specially trained police officers have had to be drafted in to deal with the violence – are harder to downplay.</p>
<p>These stories are hugely embarrassing for a government that once held up HMP Oakwood as a model prison. It accomodates up to 2,000 prisoners at cut price; that is, <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/48466/1/__libfile_REPOSITORY_Content_LSE%20British%20Politics%20and%20Policy%20Blog_2013_Jan_2013_TO_DO_blogs.lse.ac.uk-If_Titan_Prisons_are_back_on_the_agenda_we_must_know_more_about_the_one_we_already_have.pdf">£13,200</a> per inmate per year as opposed to the UK average of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/218347/prison-costs-summary-10-11.pdf">more than £31,000</a>. Oakwood was regarded as the blueprint for future prison construction, including the forthcoming “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-25594461">super-prison</a>” planned for Wrexham, north Wales. While prisons that hold large numbers of prisoners on a relatively low budget are understandably attractive to the Ministry of Justice, one has to wonder if they carry human costs.</p>
<p>Given Oakwood’s current performance, it is hard to imagine that it will fulfill its <a href="http://www.hmpoakwood.co.uk/about/about-dw/index.php">stated ambition</a> to be the “best prison in the world within five years of opening”. There are, of course, many reasons why it is failing in its self-proclaimed mission to “inspire, motivate and guide prisoners to become the best they can be”. </p>
<p>Many members of the public would put the blame at the feet of G4S, a global security company whose notoriety was assured when it <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jul/24/london-2012-olympics-g4s-military">failed to provide adequate security</a> at the London 2012 Olympics. Meanwhile, we might point to the problems inherent in generating profit from punishment for private companies and their shareholders. But to what extent does the architecture and design of new prisons determine their success – not just at keeping prisoners safe and secure, but in rehabilitating them and making them fit for life outside? Looking at Oakwood, it is clear that design is a major part of the problem.</p>
<h2>The big-box prison</h2>
<p>Oakwood is part of a larger prison complex, sitting alongside two other custodial facilities (HMP Featherstone and HMYOI Brinsford) on land formerly owned by the Ministry of Defence. While much has been made of the “perks” given to prisoners (TVs, games consoles and, for some prisoners, personal phones), Oakwood is not, as the popular press would have it, a “<a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/200m-jail-like-a-first-class-hotel-766465">cushy</a>” jail. It resembles a large, anodyne warehouse with a few small windows, set in an uninspiring landscape with no trees (and, consequently, no birds or other wildlife) and with no view unobstructed by the high, yellow-painted metal fences that criss-cross the prison grounds. </p>
<p>It is also over-securitised for the population it holds. Its designers “future-proofed” it so that although it’s currently a Category C facility, holding prisoners deemed unlikely to try to escape, the prison has been built with all the security paraphernalia of (at least) a Category B institution, designed to hold prisoners for whom escape should be made very difficult. The rationale is that if Oakwood needs to be used to accommodate higher category inmates at some future point, it can do so without the expensive retrofitting of extra security.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, within this generally secure environment, no-one thought to equip stairwells with CCTV cameras – and despite the size of its footprint, Oakwood contains numerous small, poorly lit spaces where bullying, assaults and violence can and do occur.</p>
<p>Prison reform groups predict that soon, up to <a href="http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/PressPolicy/News/vw/1/ItemID/198">half of all prisoners</a> will be “warehoused” in “super-prisons”. When, in 2009, the Ministry of Justice announced it was <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8021222.stm">shelving its plans</a> to build so-called “Titan” prisons, and when its new coalition occupants later promised a “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-rehabilitation-revolution-next-steps">rehabilitation revolution</a>”, there was some fleeting hope that money would be diverted instead into smaller prisons, crime prevention, healthcare initiatives and community solutions. But now the Titan has returned by stealth – and even as plenty of <a href="http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/PressPolicy/News/vw/1/ItemID/198">research</a> shows that prisons are healthier, more humane and more effective when kept to a <a href="http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/inspectorate-reports/hmipris/thematic-reports-and-research-publications/prison_performance_thematic-rps.pdf">modest size</a>, the British government are pursuing a policy of super-size incarceration, with all the human qualities of a factory assembly line or ant farm. </p>
<p>In these sprawling, sterile facilities, it is perhaps little wonder that security and order are difficult to maintain, vulnerable prisoners become isolated or targeted, and opportunities for rehabilitation are undermined.</p>
<h2>Rehab by design</h2>
<p>In contrast, several other countries in northern Europe are experimenting with designs that are explicitly linked to efforts to rehabilitate prisoners. One way they are doing this is by designing prison spaces to approximate “normal”, domestic settings with open-plan living areas, in which inmates can cook for themselves and each other, and participate in workshops where meaningful work provides transferable skills for use in the community on release. Another approach is to design inspiring prison spaces, ones that try to exploit the classical link between beauty and civilisation.</p>
<p>Norway has led the way in humane carceral design. Its impressive facilities – impressive for their <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/04/bastoy-norwegian-prison-works">low recidivism rates</a> as well as the quality of life they offer – include Halden, the “<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1277158/Halden-Prison-Inside-Norways-posh-new-jail.html">world’s poshest prison</a>” according to the Daily Mail, and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/04/bastoy-norwegian-prison-works">Bastøy</a>, the island prison. Other countries and territories – including <a href="http://www.dezeen.com/2011/01/07/danish-state-prison-by-c-f-m%C3%B8ller/">Denmark</a>, <a href="http://inhabitat.com/new-post-submission-255/">Iceland</a> and <a href="http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/first-look/schmidt-hammer-lassen-wins-contest-to-design-greenland-prison/8648445.article">Greenland</a> – are following suit. Able to exploit their natural resources, these countries’ corrections departments are building prisons in stunning landscapes where the boundary between “inside” and “outside” can be blurred, with huge, bar-less windows, natural building materials and plenty of outdoor space available to prisoners. </p>
<p>The thought that watching clouds, birds, <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/daylighting">daylight</a>, weather and so on can enhance rehabilitation and diminish physical and psychological violence might seem fanciful to those banging the drum for larger prisons, designed principally to prevent escape. But it seems a better bet than locking prisoners in their cells during the working day with nothing more than a TV and a PlayStation – especially if the idea of a “rehabilitation revolution” is to be taken seriously.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22424/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yvonne Jewkes receives funding from the ESRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominique Moran receives funding from the ESRC.</span></em></p>In the first few weeks of 2014, private security company G4S has repeatedly had to deny reports of full-scale riots at the UK’s newest prison, HMP Oakwood, near Wolverhampton. The prison has experienced…Yvonne Jewkes, Research Professor in Criminology, University of BrightonDominique Moran, Senior Lecturer in Human and Carceral Geography, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/219882014-01-14T16:36:00Z2014-01-14T16:36:00ZG4S and Serco deserve censure for treatment of asylum seekers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38978/original/fc7599z2-1389641081.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Called to account: G4S and Serco executives appear at the Public Accounts Select Committee last year.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> PA Wire</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Friday, the National Audit Office released a <a href="http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/10287-001-accommodation-for-asylum-seekers-Book.pdf">report</a> detailing its investigation into the COMPASS housing project, a series of contracts between the Home Office and three service providers – G4S, Serco and Clearel – that offer accommodation to destitute asylum seekers awaiting decision outcomes or removal from the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>The report is an ostensible victory for campaigners who have continuously drawn attention to the failings of the contract holders, primarily Serco and G4S. Indeed, the NAO acknowledges that its decision to investigate the administration of the contracts was due to correspondence received from concerned parties.</p>
<p>The report acknowledges that the transition into the COMPASS programme featured delays as G4S and Serco <a href="http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/care/g4s-misses-asylum-seeker-deadline/6524663.article">missed contractual deadlines</a>. It notes the meagre economic savings of the COMPASS contracts, the firms’ failure to inspect housing prior to acquisition, and their inability to keep to agreed “key performance indicators” (KPIs). Yet it offers no censure. It does not reflect on the implications of public service contracts designed for corporate profit. </p>
<p>Rather, the NAO supports the Home Office’s “commitment to … making the contracts work”. It recommends that the Home Office “work with providers to resolve outstanding issues” and “develop appropriate mechanisms to capture feedback from service users about their experiences”. It is on this point that the NAO fails in its aim of assessing “the experience of service users”.</p>
<p>No interviews were conducted with asylum seekers accommodated under the COMPASS programme as part of the NAO’s investigation. The Home Office has not conducted “surveys or focus groups with service users” for the purposes of contractual review, and the NAO relies heavily on “anecdotal evidence” and responses from G4S and Serco themselves to gauge how well private security firms are addressing residents’ concerns with subcontractors.</p>
<h2>Disrupted lives</h2>
<p>As part of an ongoing research project, I have spoken to asylum seekers and personnel in the refugee and asylum-seeker support community in the north-east of England and in Scotland about life under the COMPASS programme. The impact of missed KPI targets is considerably different when viewed through the lens of human experience. Poor housing conditions, unfulfilled repair requests, unannounced and infrequent inspections and insensitivity to religious and ethnic differences were key features of most interviews.</p>
<p>The report states that 90% of asylum seekers were able to stay in their existing accommodation during the transition period. However, for those interviewed, sudden moves with little warning were a distressing reality of the experience. While contractors were expected to give families notice of 14 days and individuals ten days prior to relocation, people I spoke with related how the actual time frames given were sometimes much shorter. </p>
<p>A family living with Cascade, a subcontractor to G4S, reported being given notice of a single day. The father said to me, “[I] told them they have to give us notification and give us some time, at least to be able to pack up.” A family with young children in a property managed by Orchard & Shipman, a subcontractor to Serco, was given just two hours to relocate. Speaking with me, the mother expressed her frustration and helplessness at having “no choice” in the matter, “I didn’t receive a letter … nobody called me.”</p>
<p>Parents worried their children’s mental and physical health was undermined by school moves and disruptions to community integration. A mother explained that her sons were constantly depressed, with the eldest “always crying”. When faced with another move, she opted to send one child to school on the bus, despite the cost, so he could continue with his studies and maintain established friendships.</p>
<p>While G4S claims to provide welcome packs “available in several languages” to its newly dispersed residents, asylum seekers’ experiences with these packs vary considerably. Some found them to be adequate, but some received packs with blanks where area-specific information should have been present; others did not receive packs and were therefore unaware of essential services, such as local GPs and post offices. Many respondents explained that they relied on local volunteer organisations to help orientate themselves in their new communities. For those without the knowledge, language skills or confidence to approach such agencies, feelings of precariousness were no doubt compounded.</p>
<p>Contrary to Serco’s claim in the report that it provides vacuum cleaners for its residents, respondents regularly complained that they were expected to use a dustpan and brush to clean carpets. A mother explained to me that she feared for her baby’s health as the child played on the floor. After pausing, she continued: “We know we are in the process of immigration, but we are human … we are not animals. It’s so hard.”</p>
<p>Subcontractors’ aims to move asylum seekers to more remote and affordable housing have affected their access to essential services – and their ability to attend requisite signings with the Home Office. Interviewees explained the Home Office will only fund bus journeys to its offices that are further than three miles “as the crow flies”. The effects of these moves are likely to intensify, as the NAO report reveals that service providers seek to “expand into new areas outside the agreed dispersal postcodes”.</p>
<p>During a Home Affairs Select Committee <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/news/130621-asylum-ev/">meeting on asylum</a> in June last year, Labour MP David Winnick <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/news/130621-asylum-ev/">questioned Stephen Small of G4S and Jeremy Stafford</a>, who was CEO Serco in Europe and the UK until last November, stating: “You’re not philanthropists. You’re in the business, are you not, to make profit one way or the other, yes?” Small and Stafford each replied: “yes”. It is a fact not lost on those in their care. As an interviewee explained to me, “G4S is only interested in the millions they are paid”. </p>
<p>Perhaps future reports will fully assess the suitability of privatising social housing in any form, given Jeremy Stafford’s claim that asylum housing represents a “platform” for an “accommodation business” that is “scalable” to “other geographies”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21988/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Hirschler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>On Friday, the National Audit Office released a report detailing its investigation into the COMPASS housing project, a series of contracts between the Home Office and three service providers – G4S, Serco…Steven Hirschler, PhD Candidate, Politics, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/183792013-09-19T14:10:22Z2013-09-19T14:10:22ZDrunk tanks another private police disaster in the making<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/31648/original/xfryvbdg-1379599121.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tanking's too good for 'em.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">beob8er</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the Thatcher years, successive governments from both political parties have been committed to reforming and reducing the public sector. Alongside, there have been numerous reforms to introduce “private sector” management systems and a market into the provision of public services. </p>
<p>The latest of these ideas is the “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2013/sep/18/drunk-tanks-getting-legless-more-expensive">drunk tank</a>”, a privately owned facility where drunken troublemakers could be placed overnight to sober up before being billed for their troubles.</p>
<p>The philosophy here is associated with Milton Friedman and the Chicago school of economists. The kernel of the argument is that consumer pressure is the only way to ensure organisations function effectively. In the UK, the focus has been on health, education and, increasingly, social care. </p>
<p>But the role of the private sector in the criminal justice system is often overlooked. G4S’s <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/supportservices/10070425/Timeline-how-G4Ss-bungled-Olympics-security-contract-unfolded.html">failures</a> in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympics are the most high-profile example of the fact that if the private sector fails then the public purse picks up the bill.</p>
<p>Privately run prisons have also been the subject of <a href="http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/PressPolicy/News/vw/1/ItemID/179">much debate</a>. There is a philosophical view that it is the role of the state to manage justice and it is not an area for profit. In terms of the management of prisons, there have been very mixed results. As Juliet Lyon, Director of the Prison Reform Trust <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/juliet-lyon/prison-privatisation-reform-wont-rehabilitate_b_2731190.html">suggested in February</a> in response to the publication of a centre-right think tank report: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Some private prisons have proved innovative and effective, but others have been criticised by the Chief Inspector for their high staff turnover, tendency to cut corners and weaknesses in security.</p>
<p>From Ministry of Justice data, it is almost impossible to compare the performance and reoffending rates of one establishment with another, partly because prisons hold different categories of offenders and also because prisoners often serve their sentences in a number of different jails. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Private security contractors have also been criticised. The death of Jimmy Mubenga who was restrained by G4S staff led to a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/04/jimmy-mubenga-coroner-report-deportations">damning indictment</a> of the company at the inquest last month. </p>
<h2>False economy</h2>
<p>The concerns with all these approaches is that the terms of the contract mean that the private provider must undercut the public one. This pattern of outsourcing and reducing employee wages and other benefits has been a feature of the public sector over the past 30 years across liberal democracies. </p>
<p>In these areas, the only way to do this is by reducing staff wages. Poor pay inevitably leads to the recruitment of staff with fewer qualifications and experience. The overall service is bound to suffer. In health, social care and penal environments the impact will be on individual lives.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/31641/original/gmbmy4t4-1379586139.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/31641/original/gmbmy4t4-1379586139.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/31641/original/gmbmy4t4-1379586139.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/31641/original/gmbmy4t4-1379586139.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/31641/original/gmbmy4t4-1379586139.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/31641/original/gmbmy4t4-1379586139.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/31641/original/gmbmy4t4-1379586139.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/31641/original/gmbmy4t4-1379586139.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">G4S: a series of blunders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Davies/PA Wire</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are an increasing number of civilians working for the police, but also we have an increasing role for private security firms such as G4S. The introduction of the role of the Police Community Support Officer was justified by David Blunkett, home secretary at the time, as a way of freeing up the time of more highly trained (and expensive) staff to deal with more serious matters. These developments have taken place alongside others such as Tom Winsor’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/police-pay-winsor-review">review</a> of police pay and conditions.</p>
<p>More recent fly-on-the-wall documentaries such as Cops have attempted to give a more realistic picture of the nature of modern policing. However our image of the Thin Blue Line is still dominated by TV and film images. The reality is that serious and violent crime is <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/violent-crime-falls-rapidly-as-uk-becomes-more-peaceful-place-8585707.html">comparatively rare</a>. The majority of police work is not focused on the sorts of cases and crimes that dominate the media. </p>
<p>Policing involves dealing with an enormous range of issues, the majority of work is far removed from this glamourised world. For example the <a href="http://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/pdfs/briefing36_police_and_mental_health.pdf">Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health</a> estimates that 15% of police work relates to mental health issues. This point was emphasised in a recent Panorama programme <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03b59yw">which highlighted</a> the fact that people experiencing acute mental distress were spending long periods in police custody.</p>
<h2>Last orders</h2>
<p>Alcohol abuse is clearly a factor in a number of social problems – particularly violent crime and assaults. New Labour’s hope that the reform of the licensing laws would lead to <a href="http://www.ias.org.uk/uploads/pdf/Factsheets/Availability%20and%20licensing%20FS%20HM%20May%202013.pdf">the creation</a> of a continental-style café culture at the heart of our major cities has proved – perhaps not too surprisingly – to be wildly optimistic. </p>
<p>The policing of public drunkenness crystallises a number of issues, not only concerning the role of the police, but also wider questions about health or social care provision. As part of a <a href="http://www.northants.police.uk/default.aspx?id=13040&datewant=yes">campaign to highlight</a> the problems of alcohol abuse, Adrian Lee, the chief constable of Northampton and the spokesman for the Association of Chief Constables (ACPO) has suggested that private companies should be commissioned to run “drunk tanks”. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/31643/original/39gpyc8s-1379586204.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/31643/original/39gpyc8s-1379586204.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/31643/original/39gpyc8s-1379586204.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/31643/original/39gpyc8s-1379586204.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/31643/original/39gpyc8s-1379586204.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/31643/original/39gpyc8s-1379586204.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/31643/original/39gpyc8s-1379586204.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/31643/original/39gpyc8s-1379586204.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Serco: profiting from prisons.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Nicholson/PA Wire</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The idea is that if someone is arrested for being drunk then they would be placed in one of these “tanks” rather than spending the night in custody. In the morning, they would be presented with a bill for their stay and a fixed penalty notice by the police. He says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don’t see why the police service or the health service should pick up the duty of care for someone who has chosen to go out and get so drunk that they cannot look after themselves. So why don’t we take them to a drunk cell owned by a commercial company and get the commercial company to look after them during the night until they are sober? </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lee rightly <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sober-up-in-drunk-tanks-and-pay-up-to-400-to-leave-police-chiefs-call-for-privatelyrun-cells-to-curb-alcoholfuelled-disorder-8823467.html">points out</a> that the police do not have any specialist medical training to deal with these issues. Police custody suites are not equipped to provide appropriate medical care. However, the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jul/12/gatwick-deportation-centre-conditions">record of private providers</a> in areas such as immigration cannot inspire confidence. </p>
<p>There are a number of fundamental questions that need to be asked: where will these tanks be placed? What will they look like? How will they be staffed? If the NHS is struggling to recruit qualified staff to A+E departments, then it is hard to see that a Friday night shift on the drunk tank will be an enticing prospect. </p>
<p>The concern is that the pattern outlined above will be followed. If this proposal is introduced it is not difficult to antipcipate a rush from a host of companies willing to bid for the no doubt lucrative contracts. However, as Anthony King and Ivor Crewe reveal in their excellent <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/04/blunders-government-king-crewe-review">The Blunders of Our Government</a>, governments have paid out huge sums of money on a series of private contractors with little, if any, improvement in service provision. </p>
<p>In this case, there is a danger that such a proposal will not just cost money; it might cost lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18379/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Cummins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Since the Thatcher years, successive governments from both political parties have been committed to reforming and reducing the public sector. Alongside, there have been numerous reforms to introduce “private…Ian Cummins, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.