Serco has yet more explaining to do

10 comments on “Serco has yet more explaining to do ”

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1. shorts 1

   24 August 2015 at 12:24 pm

   I think the people who have explaining to do are those who awarded them the contracts to our prisons…

   Another case of the “doubters” and “haters” being right before Serco even started
2. Rodel 2

   24 August 2015 at 2:16 pm

   Research on Serco’s worldwide contracts in health, prisons, hospitals (especially in Perth), education, migrant detention centres etc etc paints a dismal picture.

   Cutting and pasting the failures where governments have sold their elective responsibilities to & this company run by Winston Churchill’s grandson would take so much space. Starting with Wikipedia the inefficiencies appear endless.

   Hopefully public opinion over the current debacle in Mt Eden prison will dissuade Key and co. from giving Serco any further part to play in New Zealand’s health, education or social services.
   They may be OK with waste management services but even then we should have doubts.
3. Draco T Bastard 3

   24 August 2015 at 2:20 pm

   The public mess that Serco has made of Mt Eden has done us all a favour by serving up some warnings of what happens when privatised services go wrong.

   Actually, there’s been a cascade of that happening for the last several years going all the way back to the 1990s.

   Telecom is the big one. We were told that selling Telecom would bring us better services but we’ve just had the government pay out to get FttH when Telecom failed to do it. This is a service that we were starting to implement back in the 1980s (we were doing fibre to the cabinet) but that progress was stopped when privatisation took over. And then partly reversed as Telecom decided that it would be cheaper to take out the FttC and replace it with copper so that they could run ADSL from the exchange. They wasted several years doing that instead of putting in better cabinets.

   There was Nationals attempt to privatise health care back in the 1990s but that failed miserably and didn’t get off the ground.

   Private prisons have been failing for awhile. Serco is just the latest and most visible one as National had only just given them the contract when they started to fail.

   Now we have charter schools failing and costing us more while the capitalists take their pound of flesh.

   Basically, we already know that privatisation costs more and we get less for it. These continued failures by National are just more proof.
4. Colonial Viper 4

   24 August 2015 at 2:38 pm

   The concept NZ has of its prisons is poor to begin with; then privatising them for profit makes them utterly dismal and dangerous.
   • dukeofurl 4.1

     24 August 2015 at 4:13 pm

     80% of those in prison are for sentences longer than 2 years. 10% are doing life.

     This is not the prison system of 25 years ago when it was 80% were doing under 2 years time.

     I was in Melbournea year back , a city fringe suburb Essendon waiting for tram back after 10pm. Car yard next to tram stop didnt have high security fencing, you could wonder and look at cars to fill in time. Same goes for hotel bottle shop, a drive through where most common product on display which they bring to your car. Would never happen here, separate in/out doors with security guards. We have got so used to the higher crime rate/ family violence that we tolerate it

     We see a higher road toll/accident rate, high deaths at workplaces, abuse of very young kids than you would expect in similar places in Australia. So its not just violent crime , its culture of disregard of community standards.
5. greywarshark 5

   24 August 2015 at 4:25 pm

   “So its not just violent crime , its culture of disregard of community standards.”
   …it’s degradation of community standards which started from government malfeasance which has infected everyone to some extent, destroying the sense of community and concern for others.
   • Macro 5.1

     24 August 2015 at 5:12 pm

     …it’s degradation of community standards which started from government malfeasance which has infected everyone to some extent, destroying the sense of community and concern for others.

     Exactly! One of the main reasons Key and his mates get away with so much corruption – and people like fisi, BM, et al just go ho hum!
6. upnorth 6

   24 August 2015 at 8:18 pm

   Hey lets be very very clear here – it was a staff memeber who was not only under watch of SERCO but also a union member!!!!!!!!!!!!!
   • Rodel 6.1

     24 August 2015 at 8:56 pm

     “it was a staff memeber (sic) who was not only under watch of SERCO but also a union member!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     And your point is?
7. Bazza 7

   25 August 2015 at 8:48 am

   The Department of Corrections has apologised to the family of an inmate who wasn’t given the medication or care he needed and later died. Serco does something wrong & they are fined & then loose a contract. No one gets fired here, all there was was an apology. Where’s the outrage Kelvin Davies?
   https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/corrections-apologises-to-family-of-sick-patient-who-died-q07278

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