§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the full names of those private companies which have tendered for, or have been invited to tender for, each individual contract to(a) design, construct, manage or finance any of Her Majesty's prison establishments or (b) manage court or prison escort services, together with the contract involved; [14452]
(2) if he will list the full names of those private companies which have been awarded individual contracts to (a) design, construct, manage or finance any of Her Majesty's prison establishments or (b) manage court or prison escort services, together with the contract involved and its costs. [14453]
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility for these matters have been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from A. J. Butler to Mr. George Howarth, dated 21 March 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Questions about the private companies that have tendered for, been invited to tender for or awarded contracts to design, construct, manage and finance prisons or to manage court escorting and custody services. You also asked for details of the companies awarded each contract and the cost of these contracts.Invitations to tender have been issued to five companies or consortia for two prisons (at Bridgend and Fazakerley) to be designed, constructed, managed and financed by the private sector. They are, Securicor Seifert Atkins Consortium, UK Detention Services Ltd, Premier Prison Services Ltd, Securer Care Services Ltd and Group 4 Tarmac Ltd. The closing date for receipt of tenders is 20 March 1995. No contracts of this kind have been let in the past.To date, tenders have been invited for court escort and custody services in five areas in England and Wales. The first of these tenders was for the East Midlands and Humberside area (Area 7). Six companies bid: Securicor Custodial Services, Securiguard Services Ltd, Burns International Security Services (UK) Ltd, Group 4 Court Services Ltd, Wackenhut (UK) Ltd and Reliance Security Ltd. Group 4 Court Services Ltd were appointed, the estimated cost of the contract is £41 million over five years.Four companies bid for the contract for the Metropolitan Police District (Area 3); Group 4 Court Services Ltd, Reliance Custodial Services, Securicor Custodial Services Ltd and Pinkerton Court Escort Services Ltd. Securicor Custodial Services Ltd were appointed, the estimated cost of the contract is £96 million over five years.Five companies bid for the contracts for East Anglia (Area 4); Group 4 Court Services Ltd, Premier Prison Services Ltd, Reliance, Securicor Custodial Services Ltd, United Kingdom Detention Services Ltd. Group 4 Court Services Ltd were appointed, the estimated cost of the contract is £47 million over five years.Four companies bid for the contract for the North West (Area 6); these were Group 4 Court Services Ltd, Premier Prison Services Ltd, Reliance and Securicor Custodial Services Ltd. Group 4 Court Services Ltd were appointed, the estimated cost of the contract is £69 million over five years.Five companies bid for the contract for the North (Area 8); these were Group 4 Court Services Ltd, Premier Prison Services Ltd, Reliance, Securicor Custodial Services Ltd and United Kingdom Detention Services Ltd. A contract was not awarded. It is still our intention to award a contract as soon as possible. We will be considering how best to re-organise the size and scope of the contract so as to ensure it is both operationally effective and good value for money for the taxpayer.