This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25448674
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Serco to pay government back £68.5m over tagging | Serco to pay government back £68.5m over tagging |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Private security firm Serco has agreed to repay about £68.5m to the government for overcharging on contracts to tag criminals in the UK, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has said. | Private security firm Serco has agreed to repay about £68.5m to the government for overcharging on contracts to tag criminals in the UK, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has said. |
| It follows allegations Serco and G4S charged the government for tagging people who were either dead or in jail. | It follows allegations Serco and G4S charged the government for tagging people who were either dead or in jail. |
| The Ministry of Justice also says there were "serious issues" in two G4S contracts to manage court facilities. | The Ministry of Justice also says there were "serious issues" in two G4S contracts to manage court facilities. |
| The matter has now been referred to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). | |
| An SFO spokesman said: "We are aware of the Ministry of Justice's referral and will urgently consider the information they pass to us." | |
| Picture not pretty | |
| Both security firms have withdrawn from the bidding process to win contracts to supervise offenders on their release from prison. | |
| Earlier this month Mr Grayling said outsourcing company Capita would take on the tagging contracts by next April. | |
| An audit by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers alleged that overcharging began as early as 2005. | |
| Meanwhile, a cross-government review of G4S and Serco contracts found weaknesses in the way the majority of contracts were managed, some of which were significant. | |
| BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins said the review had uncovered three potentially significant problems in Department for Work and Pensions contracts for running the government's Work Programme. | |
| He said Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude had insisted the government would stick with outsourcing. | |
| "The picture at the moment isn't pretty," our correspondent added. "They say they can sort it out but they've got a lot of work to do." |