G4S questioned by MPs over 'inaccurate' information given to Home Office

A parliamentary committee investigating allegations of misconduct and abuse at Brook House immigration detention centre at Heathrow Airport was told that G4S had misrepresented how much profit it was making from running the site.

G4S director Jerry Petherick expressed apologies over the systematic abuse of detainees at Brook House, which had been revealed via secret filming by the BBC's 'Panorama' team, and talked of further inquiries into operations within the company's Brook House facility.

Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said the expressions of shame were "remarkably similar" to those displayed after the Medway young offenders' institution scandal in January 2016.

G4S was also called into question Cooper over allegations of misrepresentation of profits, with the FTSE 100 group reported to the Home Office that it had made 20% profits.

When Cooper asked Rev Nathan Ward, a former duty director at Brook House, if the figure was plausible, he replied "Absolutely."

Ward said he was shown presentations that indicated profits as high as 30%, after being shown asset lists containing items being charged to the home office that the firm never intended to purchase.

In addition to G4S allegedly cheating the Home Office, Ward said the number of staff was also "inaccurately" reported.

"So G4S was deliberately giving false information to the Home Office?" Ms Cooper asked.

"Categorically, yes," Ward replied.

MISCONDUCT AND ABUSE

Alluding to the succession of issues at G4S-run centres, Cooper asked Petherick, G4S' head of UK prisons, "How can you still not have done anything to address it?"

"We've worked very hard to address this," he replied.

"There may be lapses, but we are all human beings," he said, before adding the private security firm looked to take "robust action" to rectify conditions within Brook House.

Labour MP Stephen Doughty asked Petherick how many G4S staff had been suspended on allegations of smuggling narcotics into the facility as another referred to "the level of desperation" at the centre, and the availability of them, made drug use "hard to avoid".

Petherick said that no suspensions had been made at the time but there was an ongoing operation into the matters.

G4S stated it had received 11 whitleblower contacts in the last two years, all of which related to staff-on-staff behaviour, not staff on detainee behaviour, however he still demanded "the system is operating."

Petherick also denied any knowledge of whistleblowers being intimidated by methods such as slashed tyres and social media abuse, "I am not aware of any tyres being slashed," he said.

He highlighted the fact that since the footage from inside Brook House aired on the BBC, G4S had suspended ten staff members and dismissed a further three as part of its efforts to rectify the situation, noting the behaviour displayed in the programme did not reflect the "vast majority of the staff."

PAST CONDUCT

In January this year, it was revealed that G4S had breached privacy and data protection laws by filming asylum seekers in their own homes without consent.

In 2012, the government gave outsourcing contracts to G4S and Serco to run asylum centres despite neither company having experience in running such projects.

In 2014 the contracts were found by the Public Accounts Committee to not have resulted in the level of intended savings for the government, with MPs blaming poor performance by the companies as well as a lack of oversight from the civil service.

Last year the company lost its government contract to run Medway Secure Training Centre and the year before that lost the contract to run the Rainsbrook young offenders' institution after prison inspectors graded it inadequate.

As of 1230 BST, G4S shares had dipped 1% to 280.00p.