G4S drops bid for tag contract after scandals
GLOBAL security services firm G4S has dropped out of the bidding for a government electronic tagging contract worth £150m after a scandal over a previous deal.
In July, justice secretary Chris Grayling said G4S had overcharged the government by millions of pounds on two previous agreements, tagging people who were already imprisoned or dead.
According to the justice secretary, the withdrawal will not affect an ongoing investigation into the previous controversies, and the government will not extend any further contracts to the group until the process has concluded. In July, the Serious Fraud Office were asked to investigate the overcharging.
Grayling said: “I made it clear last month that I wanted G4S to withdraw from the competition for the new electronic monitoring contract. They refused to do so then. I am glad they have decided to withdraw now”.
He added: “We can now get on with awarding that contract, which will improve the monitoring of offenders and deliver savings for the taxpayer.”
Major rival Serco, which was also implicated in the earlier misconduct, has already withdrawn its bid for the contract.
G4S, which employs over 600,000 people around the world, was also criticised over a contract to provide security for last year’s 2012 Olympics. The company was unable to provide the required staff, causing the government to draft in thousands of troops to fill the gap.