Serco Group discovers 'misreporting of data' - UPDATE

29th Aug 2013 07:03

Serco Group on Thursday confirmed that the UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has called police over the misreporting of data by 'a small number of employees' associated with Serco's Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) contract. Serco will be able to retain the contract if, after a period of three months, performance is restored to PECS, but said the costs of the improvement programme would be paid by Serco, with any profit earned by the contract so far - estimated to be around £2m - to be repaid. Significantly, Serco will also forgo any future profits on the contract. The PECS contract was awarded in March 2011 and valued at approximately £285m over seven years.Under the contract Serco is required to deliver defendants to court, and its performance is measured against the delivery of a defendant being 'Designated Ready and Available for Court Time' (DRACT). Serco said it had identified misreporting of DRACT data locally on the PECS contract, with performance levels being 'overstated', although it was keen to stress that it has "found no evidence that this misreporting was undertaken with the knowledge or approval of management outside the contract".Chris Hyman, Chief Executive of Serco Group, said: "The Justice Secretary is right to expect the highest standards of performance from Serco. I am deeply saddened and appalled at the misreporting of data by a small number of employees on the contract. This is a very serious matter for the customer and for us. "We will not tolerate any wrongdoing and that is why we have referred this matter to the Police. It is also why I have immediately initiated a programme of change and corporate renewal. The overwhelming majority of our people work hard every day to deliver important public services and will share my deep concern about this matter."Going forward, the company has agreed with the MoJ that the government should have independent oversight of the programme, undergoing a period of change and renewal, of which training will be an important part. NR