Of 123 prisons across England and Wales, 17 are run by private companies, including five by G4S. The Ministry of Justice said that in general contracted prisons are among the best performing across the prison estate. “HMP Birmingham was the first publicly-run prison to be transferred to the private sector,” said Richard Burgon, the Labour Party’s justice spokesman. G4S said the prison faced “exceptional challenges.” Its shares fell in early trading but were flat by 1030 BST. In 2017 “care and justice” services, which it provides in Britain and Australia, accounted for about 7 per cent of its annual $8.9 billion USD worth of revenue.

Source: National Post August 20, 2018 15:56 UTC