G4S News Update // 23rd - 29th July 2012

Here's a summary of the big G4S stories from the last week:

The Secret Security Guard, The Guardian, 23rd July 2012: A G4S employee at the Olympic park has gone rogue and is now blogging for The Guardian. Seems like he/she doesn't have much else to do, anyway.

Security staff lose keys to Wembley stadium, New Zealand Herald, 30th July 2012: Proving their penchant for creating stories with fantastic headlines, G4S are now involved in a confusion over the keys to the national stadium.

G4S plan boardroom shake-up, Sky News, 27th July 2012: Surely expectant of further headwinds and post-Olympic scrutiny, G4S are sounding out "heavyweight" directors.

Ed Miliband's G4S nightmare over party conference security, New Statesman, 25th July 2012: Slightly embarrassing little nugget

G4S guard at St Anne's church during metal theft, BBC, 25th July 2012: Just a small story, but extremely significant. Shows how just the simple involvement of the company in any story has become headlineworthy. The disproportionate amount of interest almost makes one feel sorry for them...... Almost. 

G4S News Update // 16 - 22nd July

I hope you've all been enjoying the amount of press G4S have been getting over the last few weeks! Here's a little summary of the key stories from the last week:

G4S shares plummet after Olympic contract failures, Reuters, 16th July 2012: After G4S completely cock-up Olympic Security, damage is seen in the stock market. Shares in G4S fell to the lowest level in more than six months.

Nick Buckles' hero is Margaret Thatcher, The Guardian, 17th July 2012: The Guardian comments on the New Statesman's republication of an interview with G4S CEO Nick Buckles. His economic advice for the UK government goes as follows: "To continue to focus on traditional Tory values around encouraging a meritocracy and inspiring value creation." Lovely. 

G4S Olympic Fiasco: the people pipeline, Open Democracy, 17th July 2012: Another excellent piece from Clare Sambrook on the affect of G4S' failures with Olympic security on the army and the police. 

G4S look for new PR manager with 'personal credibility', Political Scrapbook, 18th July 2012: After the complete PR disaster around Olympic security, G4S post an advert on Linkedin for a new PR manager. Ideal candidates will have "personal credibility" and the capacity to work with crisis management…

Nick Buckles admits that Olympic failure was a "humiliating shambles", TIME, 18th July 2012: On the day of Nick Buckles and Ian Horseman Sewell's appearance in front of a Home Affairs Select Committee, news about G4S' security shortfall went global. Coverage was seen in TIME, the Wall Street Journal and even Fox News. 

Ed Miliband states that G4S failure is a "warning sign" for police privatisation, Politics.co.uk, 19th July 2012: Read Ed Miliband's speech in full here. 

Police take over Glasgow security from G4S, The Guardian, 21st July 2012: Strathclyde police said on Friday that they were taking over responsibility for security at Olympic venues in Glasgow due to serious concerns over G4S' capacity to provide sufficient security staff. 

Labour MP Keith Vaz promises to closely monitor the G4S deal with Lincolnshire Police, BBC News, 21st July 2012: This potentially lucrative deal for G4S is set to be closely monitored by the Home Affairs Select Committee. 

G4S planning to monopolise on new outsourcing deals with UK prisons, The Guardian, 22nd July 2012: Despite the Olympic catastrophe, G4S are still bidding for the contracts to manage 5 new prisons, in deals that could amount to more than £2bn. 

G4S News Update // 18 - 24th June

G4S News Update // 18th - 24th June 

Yorkshire Campaigners Claim Small Victory Over World's Biggest Security Company, Open Democracy, 20th June 2012: Campaigners across Yorkshire have forced G4S to sever their relationship with slum landlords, United Property Management. G4S quietly removed all reference to the company from their website. (See original posting on G4S blog for further information.) 

G4S Boss Predicts Mass Privatisation of UK Police Forces, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Info4Security (amongst others), 21st June 2012: The Guardian's interview with G4S boss David Taylor-Smith was picked up by much of the mainstream press and online commenters. Claiming that the general public 'don't really care' about police privatisation, Taylor-Smith reiterated G4S' interest in furthering contracts within Policing services. 

How G4S is Securing Your World, The Guardian, 21st June 2012: Matthew Taylor's feature comprehensively details G4S' rocketing growth over the past few years. 

G4S Security Staff Accused of Faking Sniffer Dog Searches at Olympic Site, The Sun, 22nd June 2012: Two members of G4S staff have been suspended after an internal review of G4S' security provision at the Olympic Site revealed that staff had been faking the searches of traffic entering the Olympic Park for 3 years. 

G4S Online Systems Hit by Hacktivist, Information Age, 23rd June 2012: An online hacker published a list of G4S personnel and their contact details online, as part of a protest against G4S' violations of human rights. G4S claimed that their security had not been breached. 

Coalition to end 'cosy' government supply contracts, The Telegraph, The Independent, 24th June 2012: Twenty-two private companies - including G4S - that hold the most contracts with the UK government have been called to a meeting at the Cabinet Office to be warned that the government will be "tough" and demand the "best value for money" from their private contractors. A government spokesperson stated that “suppliers with poor performance may therefore find it more difficult to secure new work for the Government.” Yet G4S' 'poor performance' hasn't seemed to have affected their capacity for renewed and further government contracts…

Guardian covers asylum housing "super contracts"

Thanks to James Legge, national media have finally covered the shocking accommodation 'super-contracts' awarded to our favourites: G4S, Serco and Clearel (Reliance Ltd and Clearsprings Ltd).

Have a look at his brilliant Guardian article here.

First G4S, then Reliance...

"The poet, the artist, the sleuth - whoever sharpens our perception tends to be antisocial; rarely "well-adjusted," he cannot go along with currents or trends. A strange bond often exists among anti-social types in their power to see environments as they really are. This need to interfere, confront environments, with a certain anti-social power is manifest in the famous story, The Emperor's New Clothes. "Well-adjusted" courtiers, having vested interests, saw the emperor as beautifully appointed. The "anti-social" brat, unaccustomed to the old environment, clearly saw that the Emperor "ain't got nothin' on." The new environment was clearly visible to him."

 (Marshall McLuhan & Quentin Fiore, The Medium is the Massage, 1967)

Reliance Ltd, the company recently contracted to provide NASS accommodation in London and Wales (albeit in a new joint venture with Clearsprings Ltd to form Clearel Ltd), have been under the media spotlight this weekend. The Guardian's investigative journalism team published a series of articles that revealed a litany of abuse cases brought against the company since they took on the deportation and transportation contract that was lost by G4S in 2010. 

Deportees recorded instances of physical, emotional and psychological abuse, ranging from a general lack of respect to occurrences that bordered on simple assault. In the words of their own acting senior charter operation manager, Roy Stagg, "the company is dealing with something more cultural than isolated."

An internal memo leaked to the Guardian revealed the levels to which Reliance is aware of its own failings. The document simply states: 

"Is there actually a problem with our business? The consensus was: yes. Is this a company where women, ethnic minorities and those of diverse religions feel comfortable? Evidence would suggest: no."

This memo, circulated after the company was awarded the deportation and transportation contract, highlights a 'laddish' culture in which respect for other staff members, deportees and even management is critically low. The fact is that these working cultures do not appear out of nowhere. These practices clearly existed prior to the awarding of last years contract and this year's NASS accommodation contract, highlighting a certain 'decided ignorance' on behalf of the Home Office and UKBA. Referring back to Marshall McLuhan's quotation, "Well-adjusted" courtiers, having vested interests, saw the emperor as beautifully appointed."

The UKBA's response to these accusations of abuse, assault and mistreatment is hardly surprising: 

"In all but one of these cases, we have either received no complaint or have conducted a thorough investigation which has found allegations over the use of force were entirely without merit."

Yet, in a case followed by the Guardian's article, an individual who filed a case against Reliance for an alleged assault on a deportation flight back to Nepal had his injuries recorded at Yarl's Wood detention centre, after his flight was grounded. Here, we encounter another private security firm: Serco. Serco's medical team photographed wounds to the individual's wrist, forearms and neck, but the photographs were deemed insufficiently detailed to act as evidence.

Neither the UKBA or the Home Office want another Jimmy Mubenga case. The fact that their new contractors are racking up a similar record to their predecessors - G4S - doesn't seem to alter the government's rosy view of outsourcing critical aspects of the asylum process. Private companies easily evade accountability; remember that this memo was leaked, not published. Whilst the government and establishment continue to idolise the private sector, it takes the acts of "anti-social brats" to hold those appointed to account.

"The new environment was clearly visible to him."