Privitised Prisons

[gleeber]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12920843
Ive been following the above story today. My first impressions were it didn't seem right to take punishment out of the hands of the state but I considered it over the course of the day and I'm still a bit uncertain about it.

[Kenn]

How can it be taking the punishment out of the hands of the state ?
People will still be tried and sentenced through the courts so nothing will change there, the only thing that will change is who administrates the prisons they are sentenced to.

[George Brims]

What will change is where the money ends up. It will end up in the pockets of the cronies of the politicians. The politicians will then introduce more and more draconian laws in order to increase the prison population and make more money for their cronies.

[gleeber]

How can it be taking the punishment out of the hands of the state ?
People will still be tried and sentenced through the courts so nothing will change there, the only thing that will change is who administrates the prisons they are sentenced to.
Your an old cynic George but your probably right.
Kenneth Clarkes onus is on reforming the people who tend to use prisons. That's got to be a good idea but by the time the prisons get a hold of them the rot has already set in. Mr Clarke wants prisons to be paid for results which will be measured by how much re-offending goes on. I dont know what that means or what measures they will take that can change whats happening now in the prisons. I was listening to some union prison officers and they're not happy. They would'nt be I know but I think I'll reserve my opinion for now. :)

[ducati]

Under existing laws all the public employees have to transfer to the new contractor (if they want to) and be retrained if necessary. Terms and conditions cannot substantially change. And yet they can still do it cheaper.

Yet another example of inefficiency in the public sector?

[sweetpea]

Totally agree about inefficiency in public sector but that doesn't necessarily make private companies any more competant at doing the job. There's been a history of things going wrong in private prison's such as Kilmarnock jail for example. I can't imagine what morale must be like for the people doing these jobs, just trying to eek out a living.

[ducati]

Yes there has been a bit of a history of G4 losing prisoners as I recall :eek:

[golach]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12920843
Ive been following the above story today. My first impressions were it didn't seem right to take punishment out of the hands of the state but I considered it over the course of the day and I'm still a bit uncertain about it.
gleeber, your living in the past, scotland has had a private prison for a while, have a look at this link and see how good it works

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8480072.stm

[gleeber]

gleeber, your living in the past, scotland has had a private prison for a while, have a look at this link and see how good it works

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8480072.stm
Aye that's quite interesting. What caught my attention listening to Kenneth Clarke this morning was his emphasis on prisoners changing their behavior and not re-offending.

[Gronnuck]

IMHO it doesn't much matter whether a prison is run by the public or private sector provided the staff are properly trained. The current problems are that the prisons do not manage/supervise the inmates adequately since they have easy access to prohibited items, particularly drugs and mobile phones. The prisons continually fail to educate and rehabilitate the inmates and so a significant majority of them will reoffend within two years. The criminal justice system fails us all because it has allowed the evolution of a 'revolving door' system of offender management.
With regards to Addiewell in West Lothian. Much of the junior low paid staff on the floor come from the same communities as the bulk of the inmates. So the authority of these poorly paid young workers is compromised.
In an ideal world prisons would be staffed by older more mature men and women who were properly and apporpriately trained but that all costs money and of course that's not good for either the public purse or the company's shareholders.

[John Little]

Privatisation does not bring improved efficiency or service- or is even cheaper. Anyone who thinks it does should take a good look at our railway system. Or Gas supply. Or electricity. Or telephones.

[ducati]

The problems (IMO) of recent and older privatised industries is their reliance on public subsidy and the continued interference of the Gov. via regulators.

If the private sector were left to run as they should, a business, then you would see the benefit. As it is, to keep unprofitable services going, you have a mish mash of unenthusiastic businesses, over regulation and continued public sector mindset.

Services that can not be run profitably should not be privatised-simples.

[oldmarine]

Gleeber, George, et al, Prisons in the USA have been privatised for a long time. They appear to have become good money makers for those who get involved. Some interesting comments on this thread.

[orkneycadian]

The concept of having someone other than the state run the prisons sounds, on the face of it, appealing. After all, our state run the prisons like a holiday camp / hostel for folk looking for free bed and board. But I might as well come back down from cloud cuckoo land as the privately run prisons will be as much of a "service" to some of the population as the state run ones are.