GROUP 4 COURT ESCORT SERVICE: CONTRACT (Hansard, 12 May 1993)

The Minister of State, Home Office (Earl Ferrers)

Responsibility for the subject of this Question has been delegated to the prison service agency and its Director General, Mr. Derek Lewis. The agency has therefore responded to the Question, and their letter is given below.

Letter from Mr. Derek Lewis, Director General, to the Lord Avebury, dated 10th May, 1993:

Lord Ferrers has asked me to reply to your recent Question about placing in the Library of the House of Lords a copy of the contract with Group 4 for the escort and safe custody of prisoners; and asking under what circumstances, if any, this contract can be rescinded.

A copy of the operational specification which formed part of the tender documents and the contract service requirements was placed in the Library of the House on 5th February 1992. A summary of the main terms of the contract was published on 15th April and is attached. The actual contract with Group 4 Court Services, which contains pricing details, is covered by commercial confidentiality.

The contract can be terminated at any time for any reason by giving the contractor six months' written notice. Default provisions allow the contract to be terminated with seven days' notice. A default is a material failure to deliver any of the services and a failure to correct the problem within 20 days of it being brought to Group 4's attention.

COURT ESCORT SERVICE

EAST MIDLANDS AND HUMBERSIDE

Contract between Group 4 Court Services Limited and HM Prison Service

Contract Synopsis

Scope

Prisoner escorts to or from court and which originate in the contract area.
Court custody of prisoners at all courts in the contract area.
Category A prisoners excluded.

Term

Five years from 5th April 1993.

Other responsibilities

Welfare of prisoners.
Feeding prisoners at lunchtime.
Providing information to prisoners.
Facilitating prisoner preparing defence.
Separating females and juveniles from males.
Keeping separate vulnerable prisoners or those who may compromise good order or discipline.
Passing on security information and information on vulnerable prisoners to the receiving prison.
Providing medical care for prisoners.
Dealing with complaints.
Searching prisoners, vehicles, court secure areas.
Care of prisoners' property.
Facilitating and supervising professional visits to prisoners at court.
Completing records.
Ensuring staff are trained, vetted and certificated before beginning custodial work.

Cost

All-in cost: approximately £9.5 million per year (including VAT).
mechanisms in the contract to allow for adjustments of payments in the event of circumstances occurring which fall outside terms of contract.

Default

allows prison service to terminate contract with seven days' notice
refers only to circumstances within contractor's control a default is a material failure to deliver any of the services and a failure to correct the problem within 20 days of it being brought to Group 4's attention
default includes a failure to deliver 98 per cent. of prisoners to court on time in any calendar month.

Termination

prison service may also terminate contract with six months' notice. Compensation would he payable to the contractor.

Handover

on termination (by default or otherwise), prison service may require Group 4 to work with them for a further six months to ensure a smooth transition to the replacement operation.