Capita to take on G4S and Serco's prisoner tagging contracts

12th Dec 2013 13:45

Outsourcing group Capita is to take on the electronic prisoner tagging contracts from G4S and Serco on a temporary basis.The Ministry of Justice announced that Capita would take over the delivery of electronic monitoring from April 2014 as it continued discussions with preferred bidders for newer satellite tagging technology to be introduced from later next year. During the interim period Capita will use the systems and equipment from Serco and G4S, which are undergoing investigation by the Serious Fraud Office after they were found to have charged the government for tagging a number of criminals who were either dead, in prison or had no tagging orders.Preferred bidders in the ongoing competition for the next generation electronic monitoring contracts are Capita, Buddi, Astrium and Telefonica, which the Ministry stressed were the only suppliers involved in these discussions. Once the preferred bidder stage has concluded, the Ministry will receive best and final offers and then award contracts, which it expects to award in the new year with an ensuing period of "transition and mobilisation" before the new service goes live.Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: "While the competition progresses the interim agreement with Capita will see them take on responsibility for delivery of the current electronic monitoring service."He added: "Under the interim contracts the Ministry of Justice will have far greater oversight over costs and charging than previously, with direct access to the supplier's systems to increase transparency."Once in place the new GPS tags will mean that anyone suspected of committing an offence can be identified as having been at the scene of a crime or quickly eliminated from enquiries. This will deliver swifter justice and save valuable police time and money."OH