Mr Grayling told Parliament that an initial probe showed that the firms had charged in cases when individuals were back in prison, had their tags removed, left the country or who were never tagged in the first place.
They had even charged in cases where the tagged person had died.
Probation workers said that the two firms were "unfit" to hold important public contracts while civil servants' union PCS said it was a scandal that the government wants to hand more public services to "these vultures."
The audit revealed that the overcharging began at least as far back as the start of the current electronic monitoring contracts in 2005 - but could have dated as far back as the start of the previous contracts in 1999.
Ministry of Justice contract managers discovered the overcharging during a routine inspection in 2008 - but did nothing to tackle the problem.
"The billing practices in question were clearly unacceptable and the government will take all necessary steps to secure a refund for the taxpayer," Mr Grayling said.
The current contracts were awarded by the previous Labour government in November 2004 and will end soon.
Serco has pulled out of the bidding for the next contracts but shameless bungler G4S is carrying on business as usual.
Mr Grayling has told the two firms that an independent forensic audit must now be conducted.
Serco has apparently agreed but G4S has said no.
Mr Grayling's announcement came after new figures showed that the government spent more than £394 million on contracts with G4S last year.
The Justice Secretary added that, while he had no evidence that dishonesty has taken place on the part of either company, he had asked the Serious Fraud Office to investigate G4S.
Probation union Napo general secretary Ian Lawrence said: "We've long maintained that these companies are unfit for purpose when it comes to holding important public contracts.
"The outcome of the initial investigation into G4S and Serco suggests a good deal of malpractice has been discovered.
"We're especially alarmed that G4S have refused a call for further analysis."
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "It beggars belief how many times these private companies are allowed to fail and rip off taxpayers and still be awarded government contracts.
"It ought to be a national scandal but instead this Tory-led government actually wants to sell off even more of our public services to these vultures."
G4S chief executive Ashley Almanza claimed that the company was "determined to deal with these issues in a prompt and appropriate manner."
They had even charged in cases where the tagged person had died.
Probation workers said that the two firms were "unfit" to hold important public contracts while civil servants' union PCS said it was a scandal that the government wants to hand more public services to "these vultures."
The audit revealed that the overcharging began at least as far back as the start of the current electronic monitoring contracts in 2005 - but could have dated as far back as the start of the previous contracts in 1999.
Ministry of Justice contract managers discovered the overcharging during a routine inspection in 2008 - but did nothing to tackle the problem.
"The billing practices in question were clearly unacceptable and the government will take all necessary steps to secure a refund for the taxpayer," Mr Grayling said.
The current contracts were awarded by the previous Labour government in November 2004 and will end soon.
Serco has pulled out of the bidding for the next contracts but shameless bungler G4S is carrying on business as usual.
Mr Grayling has told the two firms that an independent forensic audit must now be conducted.
Serco has apparently agreed but G4S has said no.
Mr Grayling's announcement came after new figures showed that the government spent more than £394 million on contracts with G4S last year.
The Justice Secretary added that, while he had no evidence that dishonesty has taken place on the part of either company, he had asked the Serious Fraud Office to investigate G4S.
Probation union Napo general secretary Ian Lawrence said: "We've long maintained that these companies are unfit for purpose when it comes to holding important public contracts.
"The outcome of the initial investigation into G4S and Serco suggests a good deal of malpractice has been discovered.
"We're especially alarmed that G4S have refused a call for further analysis."
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "It beggars belief how many times these private companies are allowed to fail and rip off taxpayers and still be awarded government contracts.
"It ought to be a national scandal but instead this Tory-led government actually wants to sell off even more of our public services to these vultures."
G4S chief executive Ashley Almanza claimed that the company was "determined to deal with these issues in a prompt and appropriate manner."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.