Interserve Rewarded For Failure

"....the Community Rehabilitation Companies responsible for their supervision are not generally producing good quality work, not at all. Probation reform has not delivered the benefits that Transforming Rehabilitation promised, so far.

We rarely see the innovations expected to come with freeing up the market, and instead proposed new models, new ways of delivering probation services on the ground and supporting them with better IT systems have largely stalled. The voluntary and charitable sectors are much less engaged then government envisaged. Promised improvements in Through the Gate resettlement – mentors, real help with accommodation, education, training and employment for short sentence prisoners - have mostly not been delivered in any meaningful way. And too often, for those under probation supervision we find too little is done by CRCs. On inspection, we often find nowhere near enough purposeful activity or targeted intervention or even plain, personal contact."

Dame Glenys Stacey HMI
Sept 19th 2017

Frances Crook of the Howard League on twitter:-

"One of the companies slammed by probation inspector gets new lucrative contract from MoJ"

Here we have the Interserve press release issued on Sept 19th  2017:- 

INTERSERVE SIGNS CONTRACT TO PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT SERVICES AT WREXHAM PRISON

Interserve has signed a £12 million contract with the Ministry of Justice to run six employment workshops at HMP Berwyn, a large new prison in Wrexham for five years.

The company will run the sessions at the £212 million Category C men's prison, which opened this year, to replicate a normal working environment where men will be able to improve their skills, employability and qualifications.

Yvonne Thomas, Interserve’s Managing Director of Justice, said:

“I’m excited we can now start working with HMP Berwyn to support rehabilitation and to contribute to the Governor’s vision for the prison. Interserve is committed to reducing re-offending through rehabilitation, which is at the very heart of what these workshops are intended to achieve. The men employed at the workshops will acquire skills to help prepare them for the transition into paid employment after their release. We are focused on making sure the transition from prison to the community for those released is made as smooth as possible through our close working relationship with our partners in Community Rehabilitation Companies and the National Probation Service.”

Interserve will provide employment places for 520 men in the workshops. The men will follow an attendance pattern that will provide a routine similar to working life outside of prison. Work undertaken at the workshops will be varied, and will reflect the type of opportunities those released from prison may have.

The company was named preferred bidder to run the workshops in January and the contract, which can be extended for up to two years, was signed earlier this month.

--oo00oo--

Rob Allen responding to Frances Crook on twitter and reminding us of this:-  

"CRCs are foothold in justice, if we are seen as best provider we'll strengthen chances of winning more business".

Ian Mulholland joins Interserve

04 October 2016

The former director of public sector prisons Ian Mulholland has joined Interserve as the company’s director of justice. Ian began his career as a prison officer 26 years ago before working his way up to the top prisons’ job at the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). Before he left to join the company, Ian had responsibility for 110 public prisons across England and Wales – representing 85 per cent of the prison population – and more than 37,000 staff; together with three immigration removal centres.

Ian said: 

“My role very clearly signifies that Interserve has a serious, long-term commitment to working in the justice sector. The company is dedicated to delivering public services in the justice arena and my job is to focus on our existing performance, especially around Interserve’s already excellent Community Rehabilitation Companies. I will be looking at what is working well, and also focusing on what is working less well in order to drive improvements. Through the Gate is one area of service delivery that plays a relatively small part of our overall business in terms of money, but has a significant reputational impact. I will be striving to ensure that our Through the Gate service is the best it can possibly be.”

Ian said he is looking forward to helping grow the business, and to supporting the Ministry of Justice’s aim of improving outcomes for offenders.

He added: 

“I worked for the public sector for 26 years and I feel in my heart a public servant. Moving from NOMS to Interserve is not a decision I have taken lightly, but I was convinced by the integrity and honesty of the company’s senior management, and about the firm’s very clear sense of values. During the course of my career I have had opportunities to join other organisations, but I always resisted because of my public service ethos. However, I am convinced that my outlook and behaviours do not have to change, because they are perfectly in sympathy with Interserve’s approach. The CRCs are our foothold in justice, if we are seen as the best provider we will strengthen our chances of winning more business. I am tremendously excited about the challenge and to build on the excellent start that Interserve has made in the justice sector.”

This from Financial Times on Sept 14th 2017:- 

Interserve shares dive 50% as it warns on profits

Interserve, the construction and support services company, saw its market value slashed by half on Thursday after it became the latest British outsourcing group to warn on profits amid economic uncertainty and weak government spending. 

The company, which employs 80,000 staff working in areas ranging from probation services to healthcare at home, said trading over the summer was “disappointing” at both its support services and construction divisions, meaning full-year profits would be “significantly below” previous expectations. Shares in Interserve fell as much as 52 per cent in early trading to an all-time low of 73p. Stephen Rawlinson at Applied Value criticised the company for failing to provide more details. “Based on the evidence, investors have no choice but to sell . . . as the business seems to be heading for severe financial difficulties at a rate of knots,” he said. 

The warning comes less than a fortnight after Debbie White, a former executive at rival outsourcer Sodexo, took over from chief executive Adrian Ringrose who announced his departure last November after a third profit warning in six months. Tim Haywood, finance director, has also announced his resignation. Meanwhile, costs related to the company’s troublesome waste contracts have continued to spiral. 

Interserve said in February that the business had plunged to a near-£100m loss last year, as it counted the cost of exiting an expensive venture into the energy-from-waste sector. The company entered the market in 2012 with a contract in Glasgow and has expanded to five other sites including Derby, Rotherham and Peterborough. On Thursday, it said the final costs will probably significantly exceed the £160m currently provided. Interserve said it would provide a further update in due course but stressed that it expected to be able to operate within its banking covenants for the rest of this year. 

Along with other construction groups, such as Mears, Carillion and Mitie, Interserve has been shifting its focus from building to more profitable support services work, which accounts for more than 60 per cent of the business. But support services companies have come under pressure as a result of the increase in the minimum wage, vote to leave the EU stalling decisions on new work, and the government trying to extract more from providers, leaving many with lossmaking contracts. 

Andy Parker was ousted as chief executive of Capita earlier this year; Baroness McGregor-Smith quit as head of Mitie last autumn; and Serco is struggling to recover after the scandal involving its overcharging on electronic tags for prisoners. In August, Interserve said net debt would rise from £388m to £475m-£500m by the end of the year.