Is Oakwood next? Concerns after G4S stripped of control of crisis-hit HMP Birmingham
Failing prison bosses from G4S may not be fit to keep running HMP Oakwood, a Wolverhampton MP has warned.
Wolverhampton North East MP Emma Reynolds said questions must be raised over whether the private security firm can continue as bosses of Oakwood Prison, near Wolverhampton.
It comes after G4S was stripped of control of crisis-hit HMP Birmingham following rising violence and riots there.
The Labour MP said she was alarmed by the ‘appalling situation’ at the Winson Green prison and said it raised concerns about HMP Oakwood, which is also run by G4S.
But the contractor insisted it was business as usual at the Featherstone jail and the loss of HMP Birmingham would have no impact.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said there were no immediate plans to review other privately-run jails but that all would continue to be monitored.
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Ministers acted amid a growing crisis at Winson Green, which was described by Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke as the ‘worst prison he had ever been to’.
There were 1,147 assaults, including fights, at the jail in 2017, more than any other prison in England and Wales that year, while there was also a large-scale riot involving 600 inmates the previous year.
The Government has taken over HMP Birmingham for at least six months and said it would only hand back control when it was confident G4S was capable of running it.
MP Emma Reynolds today questioned whether G4S should be allowed to continue running HMP Oakwood, which houses more than 2,000 prisoners.
She said: “Although I welcome the Government’s decision to take over Birmingham Prison, the question remains why it has taken them so long to start to get to grips with an appalling situation in which it seems the prisoners, rather than the prison officers, were effectively in charge. This is appalling and totally unacceptable. We have to question G4S’ capability to manage their prisons including Oakwood.”
The running of the Featherstone prison was praised following a recent inspection, although concerns were raised about drugs and attacks on staff.
The jail was heavily criticised in 2013 but its performance has since improved. The MoJ said prisons run by private contractors are continually monitored.
A spokesman said: “Performance of all prisons is consistently monitored. Oakwood is performing reasonably well. There are challenges across the prison estate, not just private but also public.
“There are ongoing inspections of the performance of prisons and that is out there in the public domain. The indication is G4S managed prisons are performing well on the whole and Birmingham is the exception to this.”
A G4S spokeswoman said the Government’s decision on Winson Green ‘changes nothing at Oakwood’.
G4S was awarded a 15-year contract in 2011 to operate Birmingham Prison.
Prison inspections chief Mr Clarke said there had been an ‘abject failure’ of contract management and delivery.
Of the 16 privately run jails in the UK, five are run by G4S, including Oakwood and Winson Green.
