PSA MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday August 5, 2009

For immediate use

Corrections staff oppose prison privatisation  

Department of Corrections staff, including those who’ve worked in private prisons, have told the Public Service Association, that privatising prison management will have a negative impact on our prison system.

The PSA surveyed its 2500 members working for the Corrections Department about privatising prison management.

Results from the survey are included in the union’s submission presented to the law and order select committee at 10.20am this morning. The committee is reviewing the Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons) Amendment Bill that will allow private companies to run prisons.

“We oppose prison privatisation” says PSA national secretary Richard Wagstaff. “Experience shows that private prisons cost more and provide a worse service because they’re required to make a profit.”

“We saw that the last time a National-led government privatised a New Zealand prison.”

Figures from the Corrections Department show that it cost the Australian company, that managed the Auckland Remand Prison from 2000 to 2005, $43,000 per inmate to run the prison while Corrections operating costs per remand prisoner were $36,000.  

The Australian company also provided a reduced service by refusing to admit prisoners after 6.30pm when its day shift staff went home. Now Corrections are running the prison again, prisoners are admitted at night when they arrive late from courts or after being transported from another prison.

“Results from our survey of Corrections staff provide further evidence for the case against prison privatisation,” says Richard Wagstaff. 

Of the Corrections staff who responded to the survey, 89% felt that privatising prison management would have a negative impact on our prison system. 72% had strongly negative views. 5.4% of the survey respondents had worked in privately owned or managed prisons.

“Among the Corrections staff who oppose privatisation are people with first-hand experience of the negative impact of privatising such a core public service,” says Richard Wagstaff.

“They’ve worked in private prisons overseas or at Auckland’s remand prison when it was privatised by a National-led government.”

“They’ve told us that private prisons focus on cutting costs and making money at the expense of the prisoners and staff.”

“In their experience private prisons provide fewer rehabilitation programmes for prisoners, are less safe to work in because they have fewer staff, provide less training, lower pay, have low morale and high staff turnover.”

“Corrections staff have told us that they do not want privately-run prisons because they’ll cost taxpayers more, are less safe, less accountable to the public, less innovative and are less able to meet the needs of particular groups of prisoners such as Maori inmates.”

“Their views on privatisation are borne out by information from overseas,” says Richard Wagstaff. 

A survey last year showed that 10 of Britain’s 11 private prisons ranked in the bottom quarter of a league table covering 132 prisons. The privatised prisons scored badly on security and maintaining order and control. Privately-run Top of Form

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Peterborough prison was ranked the worst prison in England and Wales. It had a poor record for organisational effectiveness, decency and reducing re-offending.

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