10.04.2019, 11:45
G4S Stripped of Birmingham Prison Contract
The UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is permanently transferring management of Category B men’s prison HM Prison Birmingham from G4S to Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) with effect from 1 July 2019.
The early termination of the G4S contract which was due to expire in 2026 follows a turbulent time for the prison which has been under the control of HMPPS following an unprecedented intervention in August 2018.
Described as “unacceptable” by Prisons Minister Rory Stewart and branded a national disgrace by prisoner welfare campaigners, HM Prison Birmingham was the location of a riot by inmates in December 2016.
In 2017 there were 1,147 reported assaults at the prison which opened in 1849, with HM Inspectorate of Prisons reporting a significant increase in prisoner deaths and suicides, drug abuse, and “appalling” conditions.
G4S has agreed to pay the MoJ £9.9 million under a settlement announced at the beginning of April.
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