Government overcharged for tagging scheme

G4S & Serco found to have charged for tagging people still in prison, people who had emigrated and even people who were dead.

Hands up who thinks anyone will get charged with fraud over this?

Remember folks, putting public services into private hands results in greater efficiency and better value for the taxpayer. This is just definitely true, always.

Indeed. I have no idea why they even bothered the Army to help out with security at the Olympics last year. G4S were certainly on the ball then.

Well in the caee of a private company you can fine their asses into oblivion when they screw up. If its in the public sector all that happens is the person in charge gets a massive payoff and a knighthood

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Nothing new. Think of PFIs as an example.

And the Govt is keen for privatisation of the NHS. The only people to win out of that would be Cameron and the private companies.

Like happened to the boards of the various investment banks who were bailed out with trillions of pounds of taxpayer's money you mean?

I did say you can

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I think you might be missing a point here. Service is provided by gov to taxpayers, they've just decided to outsource it and screwed up in the process. I can imagine somebody at Ministry of Justice just signing any invoice that passed their desk since it was not from their own pocket. This is a clear failure of control and private companies are better at risk management than public ones since they are more sensitive to adverse risk...

Nice bit of blaming the victim there..

Anyone working for a private firm is in the same boat. If you're not the owner of the firm, it's not your money, so why do you give a damn?
At least if it's state owned, by definition as a citizen, it is your money from your taxes you're managing.



Absolutely. That's what the papers have been full of in the last few years - banks and firms showing astute risk management and not simply rolling dice...

Says a lot about your attitude. It may come as a shock to you but I do care about the company I work for, so do my colleagues. We do what is in its best interest and we get rewarded for that. Feel sorry for your boss, assuming you have a job at all. No wonder most of people here see themselves as victims of capitalism, you fit in nicely into that. World always owes you something, doesn't it...

Private company will ran out of money, gov. won't, they'll just borrow more, taxpayer will pay it all anyway.


Few banks go down = all private companies are rubbish at risk management.
Mind boggles at that logic. Nevermind the healthy banks and all other companies around us that got through this.

True story - a friend runs his own business. Couldn't understand why he'd be up all hours, in first, that sort of thing. It didn't occur to him that it was because his employees weren't invested in the company. It doesn't make any difference if they put in a 8 hour day or a 10 hour day, ultimately they're only there to make him more money. You're a fool to think otherwise. Any business, at the end of the day, exists to make money for it's owners, not it's employees. That's a side benefit. You turn up at your keyboard in your cubicle, plug away from 8-5, in order to afford them a new car next year, meet your rent and that's about it.
I don't think I'm a victim of anything, apart from an industry didn't value my skill set 10 years ago.


If they're big enough, they'll just go to the gub'ment for a bail out.



Name me a 'healthy' high street bank that got us through this.

That's why we are encouraged to buy shares in our company. That's why 1/3 of my annual income comes from shares, share options and performance related bonuses. Only 2/3 is my salary.


HSBC

And that's why I don't begrudge taxation. It's shares in the country, and pays for things like the cancer treatment two of my friends have had, and given jobs to myself and my family.
Interestingly, the thing about performance related bonuses is that it can lead people to the sort of risk taking you'd have us believe private firms are adverse to. It raises a culture of 'me first'. And regardless, do you think for a second that any bonus you receive is at the expense of the firm you work for? Of course it's not. It's their way of patting you on the head for generating the owners vastly more sums of cash than they're paying you.



Exemplary: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/87153/Now-recession-hits-HSBC-as-it-calls-on-investors-for-12-5billion

I am not going to waste any more time on this


And how much exactly did they raise?
In 2009 they made a profit of $6.7bn. They haven't lost money in a single year during the recession either.