§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement about the competitive tendering which has resulted in Group 4 obtaining the contract to staff and manage detention centres;
(2) what safeguards he has obtained from Group 4, following his awarding that company a contract for administering detention centres, relating the training and experience of the staff they intend to employ; if the numbers of staff, their pay and conditions of employment will be comparable to those applied by Securicor which has held the contract previously; for how long the Group 4 contract will run; and on what financial terms terms the Group 4 contract was agreed.
§ Mr. RentonThe contract for the provision of orderly and escort services for persons detained under the Immigration Act 1971 will be placed with Group 4 Total Security Ltd. from 1 January 1989 for a period of three years. The contract was awarded following competitive tenders invited in accordance with standard procurement practice in the Home Office. The decision to award the contract took account of a number of factors in addition to cost, including a detailed evaluation of the ability of the company to provide the high quality of service specified in the contract. Group 4 staff will undergo a programme of training under the supervision of the immigration service. No change in staffing levels or in the immigration service's responsibility for management of the dentention centres will occur as a consequence of the change of contractor. The cost of the service and details of the pay and conditions of service of the contractors' employees are matters of commercial confidentiality which it would not be right to disclose.