15th Jan 2016 06:48
LONDON (Alliance News) - Outsourcer Serco Group PLC on Thursday said it will work to improve conditions at the Yarl's Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire following a news report and a second review of conditions at the site last year.
The FTSE 250-listed group came in for heavy criticism last year, first after a Channel 4 News undercover report on Yarl's Wood and then after another independent report by Nick Hardwick, the chief inspector of prisons.
The reports suggested some of Serco's employees at Yarl's Wood, one of 11 detention centres in the UK run by private sector firms, had verbally abused detainees, along with other accusations of abuse.
On Thursday, Serco said it will make a series of changes to try to improve conditions at the centre, including an increase in staff numbers and the recruitment of more female staff. The majority of the detainees at Yarl's Wood are women.
Serco also said it will review its recruitment procedures to ensure the "right people" were hired to work at the centre and said it will provide specialist training for all staff. In addition, Serco said it will introduce new menus for the detainees, following criticism over the quality of food they were being served, body cameras for all front-line staff and the introduction of multi-lingual kiosks for the detainees.
"The recommendations of the investigation will enable us to deliver a number of operational improvements, and we are already implementing many of them," said Rupert Soames, Serco's chief executive.
Soames added the internal review which has led to the changes, run by non-executive director Rachel Lomax, did not find a culture of abuse at the centre.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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