Charity Commission plans new scrutiny on charities running prisons 1

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 3 Feb 2010

The Charity Commission has agreed to look more closely at the prospect of charities running prisons following a meeting with NAVCA and the Howard League for Penal Reform yesterday.

Kevin Curley, chief executive of NAVCA, along with his chair Mike Martin and Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, met with Charity Commission chair Dame Suzi Leather to make their case for charities disengaging from prison management.

The group argued that the government’s plan to build more prisons and include charities in the bids for contracts was a way to build prisons and delay paying for them.

They also raised concerns that charities could become involved in deciding policy on punishments inside the prison.

According to Crook, the Charity Commission agreed to "do some fact finding so it has a better understanding of the issues".

"I am very pleased with that outcome," she said. "We are going to meet again."

After the meeting, Frances Crook outlined the group's opposition to the concept on her blog, and also alleged that it had been impossible to get hold of the contracts that the charities involved, Turning Point and Catch 22, had signed with Serco.

“The private sector plays hardball and would not allow their more benevolent partners to reveal anything that could affect their reputation or profits,”she wrote.

Further, Crook said she had an opportunity to see a Serco prison as a panellist on an upcoming BBC Radio 4 Any Questions show. But when Serco heard she was to be part of the panel, it withdrew its invitation to the BBC to host the programme.

She concluded: “I strongly believe it is both immoral and impractical for charities to be involved in the management of prisons. If we let this happen it could change the very nature of charities and mislead the public as to what a prison is, for generations to come.”

The Charity Commission first looked at the issue of charities running prisons in July last year, following a strong letter of warning from Curley, but simply responded that charities running prisons "could be charitable".

In response to an enquiry from Civil Society today, a spokeswoman for the Commission said: "The Commission is interested in this area and we will be undertaking some fact-finding in order to gain greater understanding of the issue."

Directory: Charity Commission | National Association of Voluntary and Community Action
Who's Who: Suzi Leather | Kevin Curley

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C Allen
none
none
4 Feb 2010

But how can the Commission find any facts when they have no access to the contract documents between the charities and the private companies?

It will be an interesting contest between powers of the Commission over a charity and contract/tender law.

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