G4S secures £13m tagging contract

Embattled security firm G4S has won a contract to manage the electronic tagging of offenders in Scotland, its first big British deal since its high-profile failure to provide enough security staff at the London Olympic Games.

By The Newsroom

Published 22nd Sep 2012, 07:00 BST

G4S has signed a five-year deal with the Scottish government worth £13m and will begin monitoring offenders from April 2013 when it takes over from British outsourcing rival Serco.

The contract win will be a welcome boost to G4S, which has been under fire since admitting just two weeks before the London Games began that it could not provide a promised 10,400 venue guards, embarrassing the government and forcing British troops to fill the shortfall.

A report by MPs published yesterday called for G4S to waive its management fee over the fiasco and compensate Games staff neglected in its chaotic recruitment drive, applying pressure that could see the group’s estimate of a £50m loss on the contract widen.

G4S already provides electronic tagging in England but must bid to win a new contract to be awarded next summer.