Outsourcing giant Serco today appointed litigator Lord David Gold to a board overseeing a review of its practices as it faces a police fraud investigation over its £285 million prison escorting contract.
The Government alleges Serco staff recorded prisoners in London and East Anglia as having been delivered ready for court — a key performance measure — when in fact they were not.
Serco has agreed to repay past profits from its prison escorting contract, and today said its review to “identify any changes necessary to our practices, processes and procedures” was under way, with Lord Gold appointed as an independent member of a board committee created to oversee the review. Evidence of the potentially fraudulent prison escort behaviour emerged as part of an audit announced by the Government in the wake of an electronic tagging scandal in which G4S and Serco were accused of charging the Government for tagging offenders who were dead, in prison, or never tagged.
Chief executive Chris Hyman today said Serco was “a business led by its values and built on the strength of its reputation for integrity”. He added: “The overwhelming majority of our people work hard every day to deliver important public services effectively. We will not tolerate poor practice and behaviour and wherever it is found, we will put it right.”
He said Lord Gold’s “independent insight” would help the company to “show who we are and what we stand for”.
