G4s Share Discussion Threads

[hvs] 12/7/2013 15:38

Is theso called all "OXBRIDGE" ????

LIke their paymasters.

[major clanger] 12/7/2013 15:03

Downgraded by brokers Cantor Fitzgerald (B to H; TP to 220p from 315p).

TP cuts today from BDK, JPM etc. here too:

www.brokerforecasts.com/news/article/articleId/4631621

[stevetk] 12/7/2013 14:54

Hi All. I was hoping there would be some sort of repairing statement made today. I don't know if I want be holding over the weekend.

[jonc] 12/7/2013 13:20

Yes out of our pockets and to the hands of the brothers.

[hvs] 12/7/2013 12:52

Yes cause they was all UNITE members or were they NOT ???

Thats our very Scottish "GOD" signing off the cheques with his pal ED WITH NO BALLS.

Thats what they called distribution of WEALTH

[dmf] 12/7/2013 12:48

Civil servants were aware of issues in 2008 !!!!!!!!

and did nothing !!!

[hvs] 12/7/2013 10:16

Our own very very OXBRIDGE very "CIVIL" Service

with BONUSES to boot.

[salpara111] 12/7/2013 08:49

Genuinely surprised that they have not been marked down much more heavily.
I appreciate that the UK is only part of their business but the reputational damage has been heavy and will surely make winning new contracts much more difficult.

[lennonsalive] 12/7/2013 08:20

This company has a terrible reputation, I'm surprised we keep hiring them.

[finethings] 12/7/2013 01:15

They may all be soon wearing their own tags!

[hvs] 11/7/2013 19:08

Easy money get it while you can,

Is SERCO any better ?????

What they says we will learn ?????

Is the OXBRIDGE FAILING ???? Did they never LEARN ?????

[salpara111] 11/7/2013 19:04

Just watching Channel 4 news, they say that G4S refused to open their books for a forensic audit but Serco did hence the SFO getting involved.
To say that I wouldn't touch this with yours would be an understatement.

[hvs] 11/7/2013 18:45

lol !!!!!!!!!

Very few burial places left

[jonc] 11/7/2013 15:19

Perhaps they should fit heat sensors as well to check if a prisoner is being cremated.

[buywell2] 11/7/2013 15:12

Does bring the accuracy of tagging into question though re abroad

Presumably the dead buried ones just stayed in the same location for years and this does not bring up any kind of alarm

[jonc] 11/7/2013 15:08

It is difficult to believe that there is no dishonesty when they are billing for dead people and people that have left the country.

After all the tags are supposed to be monitored 24 hours a day.

WTF did their systems show when a prisoner kicked the bucket???

It just means the the company is incompetent and probably complacent.

[buywell2] 11/7/2013 15:06

SFO investigates G4S for 'overcharging millions on government contracts'

Justice secretary tells MPs he has called in Serious Fraud Office to investigate private security firm for overcharging

The overcharging included billing for tracking the movements of people who had died. Photograph: David Davies/PA

The Serious Fraud Office has been called in by ministers to investigate the private security company G4S for overcharging tens of millions of pounds on electronic tagging contracts for offenders. The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, said the overcharging included billing for tracking the movements of people who had moved abroad, those who had returned to prison and had their tags removed, and even people who had died.

Grayling told MPs he had made the decision after G4S refused on Wednesday to co-operate with a voluntary forensic audit of its billing practices and to withdraw as a potential bidder for the next generation of tagging contracts worth more than £1bn.

"At this time I do not have evidence of dishonesty by G4S but I have invited the Serious Fraud Office to investigate that," he said.

Grayling told MPs that G4S and a second major supplier, Serco, had been overcharging on the existing £700m contract, with the Ministry of Justice being billed for nonexistent services going back to at least 2005 and possibly as long ago as 1999.

He said it included charging for monitoring people who were back in prison and had had their tags removed, people who had left the country, and those who had never been tagged in the first place.

"There are a small number of cases where charging continued for a period when the subject was known to have died," he told the Commons. "In some instances, charging continued for a period of many months and indeed years after active monitoring ceased. This is a wholly indefensible and unacceptable state of affairs. The house will share my astonishment that two of the government's biggest suppliers would seek to charge in this way."

The decision to call in the SFO follows an audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers commissioned by Grayling in May after billing discrepancies were discovered during a re-tendering process. Under the contracts, the movements of more than 20,000 offenders are monitored using electronic ankle tags at any one time.

"The audit team is at present confirming its calculations but the current estimate is that the sums involved are significant, and run into the low tens of millions in total, for both companies, since the contracts commenced in 2005," Grayling said.

Serco, which is one of the government's biggest and most important suppliers, agreed on Wednesday to fully co-operate with a forensic audit to establish whether any dishonesty took place on its part. It has also agreed to withdraw from bidding for the £1bn next-generation tagging contract.

"They have said they take the issue extremely seriously and assure me that senior management were not aware of it. They do not believe anything dishonest has taken place, but we have agreed that if the audit does show dishonest action, we will jointly call in the authorities to address it," Grayling said.

Serco was the leading bidder to take over the management of a prison in South Yorkshire. Grayling said that decision had now been delayed until the voluntary forensic audit was completed.

The Cabinet Office is to review all G4S and Serco contracts held across government as a result of the tagging scandal. The Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude, had already started preparations for a register of companies holding public sector contracts to detail their track record in the wake of G4S's failure last year to fulfil its contract to provide security guards for the London Olympics.

Grayling, who had the attorney general, Dominic Grieve QC, next to him when he made his Commons statement, said he had taken the decision to call in the SFO "given the nature of the findings of the audit work that had taken place so far, and the very clear legal advice that I have received".

He said the SFO was being asked to consider whether an investigation was appropriate, and to confirm "whether any of the actions of anyone in that company represent more than a contractual breach".

The justice secretary has started a formal process to determine whether to exclude G4S from the next 10-year tagging contract which is due to start shortly. He has also taken action within the justice ministry after disclosing that his own officials became aware in a limited way of some of the problems in 2008 but failed to take adequate steps to address them.

He said an entirely new contract management team had been put in place. "The permanent secretary is also instituting disciplinary investigations to consider whether failings on the part of individual members of staff constitute misconduct", he said.

The shadow justice secretary, Sadiq Khan, said the disclosures were "truly shocking" and the police should be called in immediately to investigate Serco as well as G4S. "There can be no cosy relationship with either company if we are to truly get to the bottom of these very serious allegations," he said.

G4S said the Justice Ministry was an important customer and it was committed to resolving its concerns as soon as possible. It said it was conducting its own review and would reimburse any overbilling it identified. It said it was not aware of any indications of dishonesty or misconduct.

Ashley Almanza, the G4S chief executive, said: "We are committed to having close and open relationships with our customers and we strive to work in partnership for the mutual benefit of our organisations. We place the highest premium on customer service and integrity and therefore take very seriously the concerns expressed by the Ministry of Justice. We are determined to deal with these issues in a prompt and appropriate manner."

[jonc] 11/7/2013 15:04

Trebles and knighthoods all round.

[west_star] 11/7/2013 15:01

Not a holder here but out of interest has anything been proven with overcharging or is there an investigation coming?

[grahamburn] 11/7/2013 14:44

A fairly robust statement from the company.

Bravado (which is unlikely and would be unwise given recent history) or know they have a reasonable defence/explanation.

Given the problems appear to go back many years, something doesn't quite add up here - especially within the civil service who should have been authorising payments!

[macau] 11/7/2013 14:26

understatement rathkum!

[buywell2] 11/7/2013 14:17

buywell2 7 May'13 - 16:46 - 617 of 651 0 0 edit

I think the RNS is worth worse than 250p

Another profit warning and 200p cometh methinketh

dyor