Plan to privatise North-East jails

By Rob Merrick

MPs and prison officers last night raised concerns at a plan to hand management of Durham Prison to a private company.

The Category B jail, built in the early 19th Century, is among nine put forward by the Government for privatisation, a list that also includes two prisons in Northumberland – Acklington and Castington, both near Morpeth.

Justice Secretary Ken Clarke insisted the nine had not been selected because of poor performance, but because they offered the prospect for “efficiency improvements and innovation”.

That innovation could include payment-by-results, with a private contractor’s rewards linked to cutting reoffending rates – already being tried at Doncaster Prison.

But Labour accused Mr Clarke of planning the mass privatisation because his Uturn on shorter sentences for guilty pleas had opened up a £130m black hole in his budget.

And the party criticised other privatisations proposed yesterday, including chunks of the Probation Service and contracts for tagging prisoners.

Community Payback services have already been put out to competition.

Full article can be found here: http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/news/9138367.Plan_to_privatise_North_East_jails/