Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has today issued a statement to Parliament which confirms that three South Yorkshire Prisons at Hatfield, Lindholme and Moorland are reverting to Public Sector control while the SFO investigation into Serco’s activities involving Electronic Monitoring contracts remains ongoing.
Grayling said: "The impact of the delay and the uncertainty this has created mean that for operational reasons we cannot postpone the outcome of the competition process any further. Adding: "I have therefore decided that the competition for these prisons will cease and that all three prisons will be managed by HM Prison Service."
Napo General Secretary Ian Lawrence welcomed the news, saying: ‘This welcome news must represent what is undoubtedly a humiliating decision for Chris Grayling in light of his almost obsessional desire to privatise prisons and probation.’