Private Vs Public

The Government is wrong to u-turn on the use of competition in prison
management, according to new analysis by the independent think tank Reform. The research group shows that private prisons are better at preventing long-term and short-term prisoners from offending again. They perform better than comparable public sector prisons on the majority of official performance measures.

Private companies had been able to manage entire prisons since 1992. Ministers changed that policy at the end of 2012. From now on the role of private companies will be limited to relatively small contracts including for rehabilitation services and facilities management. This decision is not supported by new analysis of prison effectiveness. The thinktank has obtained official Ministry of Justice data for prison operational performance and rehabilitation. In terms of efforts to reduce reoffending:
 

• 10 out of 12 privately managed prisons have lower re-offending rates among offenders serving 12 months or more than comparable public sector prisons.
•   7 out of 10 privately managed prisons have lower re-offending rates among offenders serving fewer than 12 months, compared to comparable public sector prisons.

Further, the Ministry of Justice rates prison performance under four headings (‘domains’). Reform’s analysis reveals that private prisons perform better in three of the four cases:

•   ‘Resource management and operational effectiveness’: 12 out of 12 privately managed prisons are better than comparable public sector prisons;
•   ‘Decency’: 7 out of 12 privately managed prisons are better than comparable public sector prisons;
• ‘Reducing re-offending’: 7 out of 12 privately managed prisons are better than comparable public sector prisons;
• l ‘Public protection’: 5 out of 12 privately managed prisons are better than comparable public sector prisons.

The Reform report, ‘The case for private prisons’, also argues against the Government’s recent decision to maintain national pay bargaining
in the prison system. Flexible terms and conditions are one of the key reasons why private operators have been able to deliver better performance. They have resulted in better staff-prisoner relationships, more positive prison environments, higher staff satisfaction and a more diverse workforce.

The report recommends that all prisons should be subject to competition including the private sector. The Government should devolve power to set pay and conditions and manage staffing arrangements to prison governors. Will Tanner, the Report author, said: “Twenty years of private prisons have created an effective market which is ready to grow. Evidence shows that a greater role for the private sector will advance the ‘rehabilitation revolution’ which Ministers want to deliver.”

Will Tanner  Senior Researcher REFORM

For more information and to download the report please go to