9th Apr 2014 15:56
LONDON (Alliance News) - G4S PLC will be able to win new UK government contracts after the UK Government accepted that the security firm's corporate renewal plan was showing a move in "the right direction."
A statement from the Cabinet Office Wednesday said that following "material concerns" that emerged last year, relating to overcharging on Ministry of Justice electronic monitoring contracts, G4S has "engaged constructively with the Government."
The government said it has accepted the outsourcing group's efforts through its Corporate Renewal Plan to meet its expectations as a customer, following constructive discussions with the company.
"As part of our overall programme to strengthen the governance, management and performance of our UK Government business we have consolidated central government contracts into a single business unit under new leadership and enhanced contract management processes," said G4S CEO, Ashley Almanza.
"Our priorities now are to deliver outstanding service on existing contracts and to grow our business by competing for new Government services in areas where we have proven expertise and capability," Almanza added.
Last month G4S agreed to repay GBP108.9 million to reimburse the taxpayer for overcharging found in an audit of Ministry of Justice contracts, and to cover direct costs to government arising from these issues.
This also included GBP4.5 million to cover the cost of overpayments made on two contracts for facilities management in the courts.
The company and rival Serco PLC were placed under investigation by the UK government in July last year and all their government contracts were placed under review, after details from an audit emerged showing that they had been over-charging on criminal tagging contracts, claiming for people who were dead, who had never been to prison, or never tagged in the first place. In November, the Serious Fraud Office opened a criminal investigation into the tagging contracts.
G4S shares Wednesday closed at 249.50 pence, up 0.1%.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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