Competition for Prisons : : Public or Private? / / Julian Le Vay.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Bristol University Press Complete eBook-Package 2015
• VerfasserIn: Le Vay, Julian,
• MitwirkendeR: Julian, Le Vay,
• Place / Publishing House: Bristol : : Policy Press, , [2015]; ©2015
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (332 p.) :; 42 Black and White

A quarter of century has passed since Margaret Thatcher launched one of her most controversial reforms, privately- run prisons, and the role of the private sector in delivering public services continues to be one of the big political issues of our time. This book, by a critical professional insider, re-assesses the benefits and failures of competition, how public and private prisons compare, the impact of competition on the public sector’s performance, and how well Government has managed this peculiar ‘quasi-market’. Drawing on first person interviews with key players, including Chief Executives and prison managers in both sectors and Chief Inspectors, Julian Le Vay uses his former role as Finance Director of the Prison Service to give a wholly new analysis of comparative costs and of the impact of constant changes in competition policy. He draws out lessons from the parallel stories of the SERCO/G4S billing scandal, privately run immigration detention and the more radical approach now being taken on outsourcing probation, and looks in detail at four prisons, publicly and privately run, that ‘failed’. Concluding with a critique of the future shape of competition, he also draws some general conclusions on the way government works. This is vital reading for anyone interested in the role of competition in public services, implementation of public policy, or the state of our prisons.

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- Contents -- List of tables and figures -- List of acronyms -- Preface -- Origins -- Evolution -- Related markets: immigration – two sectors, no competition -- Youth custody -- Related markets: electronic monitoring – fall of the giants -- The quasi-market: characteristics and operation -- Comparing public and contracted prisons -- Comparing quality of service -- Costing the uncostable? Civil Service pensions -- Costing the uncostable? PFI -- Comparing cost -- Impact of competition on the public sector -- Objections of principle -- Related markets: probation – how not to do it -- Has competition worked? -- Has competition a future? -- Appendix: Prescription of operating procedures in prison contracts -- Bibliography -- Index