Admitting failure on private prisons

32 comments on “Admitting failure on private prisons ”

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1. AB 1

   25 July 2015 at 9:12 am

   “All the stats prior to this had Serco top rated. Were the prior stats false?”

   In private companies, performance numbers are routinely ‘massaged’, ‘gamed’ and lied about.
   Also – the performance measures are usually a crock – gross over-simplifications or fatally flawed by only measuring the things that can be measured and omitting those that can’t. Have seen it for 25 years – the extension of statistical management via KPIs, 6-sigma etc. beyond pure manufacturing into service organisations is another neoliberal delusion.
   • Colonial Viper 1.1

     25 July 2015 at 9:40 am

     And the culture of bureaucratic managerialism where middle level managers sit behind desks looking at graphs and metrics emailed to them as if they are real – is partly to blame.

     The Government clearly does not have any ruthlessly hawkish auditors with powers or skills to go through all areas of a facility, whenever, wherever, with no warning, and to talk to anyone that they wish to.
     • dukeofurl 1.1.1

       25 July 2015 at 11:43 am

       Unless you can verify the numbers they will be complete lies.
       Thats why they were avoiding sending prisoners to hospital and if thats the only option send them to a public prison pronto.

       Thats how the private hospitals work too, any patient that has complications is immediately sent for better care to a public hospital ( which covers the cost no questions asked).

       This was creeping in charter schools, use the local state schools for ‘specialist subjects’ they couldn’t bother to teach or it wasn’t in their financial interest to do so.
       That was as well as sending their ‘untrained teachers’ to state schools if they were doing teacher training so they could be ‘supervised by trained teachers’ as required by tertiary institution. Once that short period was over it was back to their charter school classroom for whatever.
       • Macro 1.1.1.1

         25 July 2015 at 10:02 pm

         Exactly this ^^^^
2. Save NZ 2

   25 July 2015 at 9:22 am

   The question is how much is this costing the taxpayers and how much has Serco already been paid?
3. Save NZ 3

   25 July 2015 at 9:27 am

   And is Serco going to pay compensation to Nick Evans family if it is found that Serco failed to protect him from violence in the prison where he was potentially murdered and then shipped off to a public prison instead of medical treatment so that it could all be covered up?
   • dukeofurl 3.1

     25 July 2015 at 11:33 am

     ACC means no compensation for death or injury, no matter the circumstances.

     Thats why its called no fault, however this is to everyone’s advantage as the right to sue meant big lawyers bills first or lawyers taking a big share of payout
   • NZJester 3.2

     25 July 2015 at 7:31 pm

     I can see National apologising for his death and making sure there is some form of compensation payment made.
     HIs family are not just the average NZ family but one with strong National party ties.
4. CC 4

   25 July 2015 at 9:42 am

   Waiting to see who the Police charge under S151 – Crimes Act i relation to the death of Nick Evans.
5. Tautoko Mangō Mata 5

   25 July 2015 at 9:55 am

   Rangi Kemara, one of the “Urewera Four” at the end of his excellent post on the whole prison system states:

   “A note on Private Prisons

   My one issue with Serco is that it is profiteering from misery. This in my view is almost as morally corrupt as purposeful overcrowding by government as a means of cost saving.”
   http://www.putatara.net/2015/07/serco-debate/

   Rangi’s Blog is worth reading because we will need to address the wider issues which will still be there after Serco has been removed.

   1. Private prisons: profit from prisons
   2. Overcrowding, double bunking (thanks Judith Collins) Inadequate facilities, long lockdowns
   3. Rehabilitation opportunities
   4. Alternatives to prison-drug & alcohol and mental health

   and pre-emptive early intervention
   5. investing money on families and education,. teacher aides, mentors
   6. Anger management and countrywide antisexual violence education programmes running for young people in schools to enable young people to learn tools of handling conflict, respect for one another.
   7. Reintroduction of adult education and night school classes which enable new skills to be learnt, new social relationships to be formed.

   If we don’t spend money earlier making lives better, then we end up spending money later making lives more miserable.
   • Ad 5.1

     25 July 2015 at 10:47 am

     Profiteering from prisoners is not unique to the private operators.

     For many years Corrections enabled prisons to bid for shoe manufacturing, totally undercutting the 3 main local manufacturers.

     They also still do huge plant nursery contracting, amongst other things.
     • dukeofurl 5.1.1

       25 July 2015 at 11:31 am

       Is it profiteering when the money is returned to public sector prisons ?
       • Colonial Viper 5.1.1.1

         25 July 2015 at 12:25 pm

         Is it profiteering when Cullen lets the energy SOEs charge up power consumers big in order to fill up the Treasury?
         • cricklewood 5.1.1.1.1

           25 July 2015 at 1:22 pm

           Yep especially when it then makes them an attractive asset ripe for the picking…
           Imagine the effect near cost power would have on the economy not to mention the pressure off the health system…
         • Tricledrown 5.1.1.1.2

           26 July 2015 at 4:07 am

           A big drought and rapid expansion of economy in the early 2000s forced power prices up but when production returned prices didn’t fall.
     • cricklewood 5.1.2

       25 July 2015 at 1:18 pm

       Although in terms of plant nurseries even corrections are unable to compete with massive automated operations that have reduced staffing requirements by 90%…

       Also it is important to provide meaningful work… idle hands etc…
6. quokka 6

   25 July 2015 at 10:50 am

   SERCO had an abysmal record of managing Australian migrant detention centers
   long before they were given the Mt. Eden contract.
7. Ben 7

   25 July 2015 at 10:54 am

   And of course there is no fighting, corruption, drugs, phones and general anti-social behaviour in govt. run prisons. Centres of purity and and moral perfection they are.

   The govt. has come out of this looking good. A problem(s) was identified, the Minister waited for more information and then acted in a strong manner. Although Labour had been saving this scandal for a rainy day (no rush to help those prisioners), and it certainly diverted attention from the Chinese housing debacle, sorting out Serco is a win for the Nats and will be a confidence boost for Sam Lotu-Iiga.
   • Gangnam Style 7.1

     25 July 2015 at 11:00 am

     the minister did not act at all, the corrections boss stepped in, perception is the govt is looking very week on this, good try tho.
   • Colonial Viper 7.2

     25 July 2015 at 12:30 pm

     And of course there is no fighting, corruption, drugs, phones and general anti-social behaviour in govt. run prisons. Centres of purity and and moral perfection they are.

     Are you really this much of an arsehole, Ben? Or do you think you are making a clever, incisive point here?

     Against much sound advice, National subcontracted out a core responsibility of the Crown to a feckless, incompetent for-profit company with an abysmal operational record. Now its gone tits up and the Crown is incurring extra costs not to mention the human damage done.

     If you have anything meaningful or thoughtful to say about this, go ahead. Otherwise, its better to just look like a fuckwit rather than prove it to everyone around.
     • Ben 7.2.1

       25 July 2015 at 2:14 pm

       Overreact much? Not wintering that well down there I see.
       • The Other Mike 7.2.1.1

         25 July 2015 at 2:29 pm

         “The govt. has come out of this looking good. A problem(s) was identified, the Minister waited for more information and then acted in a strong manner”

         What planet you on Ben? Lotu-Liga knew of these problems in MAY – and did, well, nothing. They also know years ago of the Scandinavian system which has entirely different and better outcomes for prisoners. Again, do nothing. Sums them up really.

         If you think with this scandal, $26M flag, TPPA, human rights abuse(s), hair-pulling, 200,000 odd hungry kids etc etc etc, this is a government that looks good – I’d like a smoke of whatever you’re on!
       • Mark 7.2.1.2

         25 July 2015 at 6:25 pm

         No I think fuckwit sums it pretty accurately actually
   • MikeG 7.3

     25 July 2015 at 9:00 pm

     Ben – you forgot that the issue was raised by Davis at Select Committee and Sam “forgot” that, and subsequently accused Davis of “politicising” the issue. Disgraceful.

     The system failed – it required an opposition MP to highlight the issue, rather than the supposed checks and balances in the system.

     Well done Kelvin Davis.
8. RedBaronCV 8

   25 July 2015 at 11:15 am

   Is the government looking good on this really?
   Looks like the civ’s have stepped up to the plate and told the minister what is going to be happening to fix this.

   And all this has happened so swiftly and smoothly from the departmental side that it looks like they have had this plan in place and ready to go for a while now- knowing it was going to be needed.

   Stuff is saying that the civil servants have invoked the step in clause so can they also cancel without ministerial say so?
   “Smith said he was invoking the “step-in” clause in the contract with Serco.”

   And did the civil service ever want to sign the contract in the first place or did they advise against it?
   And as for the avoidance side wasn’t this NActs stupid idea in the first place?

   “Lotu-Iiga supported Smith’s decision to take over the running of the facility for the immediate future.”
9. Robert Glennie 9

   25 July 2015 at 11:45 am

   http://willnewzealandberight.com/2015/07/25/serco-not-fit-to-hold-government-contracts/

   Google Serco scandals. They got into trouble with the British Government for their management of a centre for deportees. They also got tainted by fraudulent activity.

   Not ideal credentials for a security firm.
10. Policy Parrot 10

    25 July 2015 at 11:58 am

    Private Prisons, Charter Schools, Public-Private Partnerships.

    These types of organisations purely exist as a legalised method of channelling taxpayer funds into private hands, i.e. as in corruption. Any organisation that endorses these structures is in effect endorsing corrupt practice.

    There is typically some fig-leaf commitment to the actual project, but the focus is primarily on making money, either by increasing charges or cutting costs.

    And the right has the nerve to say that private ownership is superior to public? At least in theory, public ownership is accountable to voters. Private ownership is accountable to shareholders and big stakeholders, not voters.
11. mick 11

    25 July 2015 at 12:07 pm

    this country is in the grip of people who believe in a philosophy that the state can do no right but they all want to take over their assets. the sooner the government is returned to people who know how to do the decent thing the better. otherwise this madness will continue.
    philosophy is no substitute for reality.
    • Save NZ 11.1

      25 July 2015 at 3:30 pm

      @MIck +1
12. philj 12

    25 July 2015 at 4:50 pm

    Those directly responsible should be given a fair trial and locked up. Not in a Serco correctional facility, to be fair.
13. NZJester 13

    25 July 2015 at 7:23 pm

    You do have to wonder if the family of the Prisoner who died did not have such strong National ties if National would have stepped in like they did?
14. Detrie 14

    2 August 2015 at 4:03 pm

    These problems are hardly new. Here’s a recent documentary on what’s occurring in the UK prison system… It’s a pity we can’t learn from others mistakes…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZLYCQHMOIE

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