Collins Judith: Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons)  Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Collins Judith: Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons)  Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:653;Page:2024] 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Corrections) 
: 
 I move  
That the Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be referred to the Law and Order Committee. 
This bill reflects Government policy to allow for the competitive tendering for contract management of prisons on a case by case basis. Legislation providing for the private management of prisons in 1995 was repealed in 2004 by the Labour-led Government. That saw the end of the private management of Auckland Central Remand Prison and the Corrections Act 2004 expressly prohibits the Crown from entering into contracts for the management of prisons. Labour’s decision was purely ideological. It had nothing to do with the management of Auckland Central Remand Prison which was widely acknowledged as being highly successful. In fact it was so successful that the Department of Corrections adopted many of its innovations when it took over the prison in July 2005. Those improvements included education crime prevention programmes physical training and staff dedicated to behavioural assessment. Local iwi also supported the partnership with Auckland Central Remand Prison. 
The legislation that governed the contract management of Auckland Central Remand Prison provided a sound basis for an effective and productive relationship between the contract managers of the prison and the Crown. This Government will therefore re-establish the legislative framework for contract management of prisons based on the previous legislation. We have made some changes that reflect the environment in which prison management must be carried out in the 21st century. Past provisions have been preserved where they remain sound and amended where new provisions that have arisen in the intervening 15 years have made it prudent to do so. 
The Department of Corrections is facing significant pressure on its existing prison capacity. Prisoner numbers over the next 10 years are forecast to grow to the point where an additional 5000 prison beds may be needed by 2018. Demand for prison beds is being driven by an increasing prison population and the need to replace obsolete facilities. The Government must therefore look for innovative solutions efficiency and cost-effectiveness in prisoner management. Allowing private companies to provide custodial services creates an opportunity to benefit from private sector initiative. 
The Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons) Amendment Bill is consistent with the objectives and purpose of the Corrections Act 2004. The Corrections Act requires the corrections system to improve public safety and to contribute to the maintenance of a just society. This must be done through the safe secure humane and effective containment of people who are subject to custodial sentences. The maintenance of public safety is the paramount consideration in all decisions made about the management of offenders. The Government believes that this bill provides an opportunity for innovation in safe and effective offender management that is consistent with the guiding principles of the Corrections Act. 
Another key feature of the Corrections Act is the accountability that it sheets home to the chief executive of the Department of Corrections. Prisoners remain in the legal custody of the chief executive at all times. This will not change when the prisoner is held in a prison managed under contract. The chief executive remains ultimately accountable for the acts or omissions of the contractor. This will drive a rigorous performance management regime. Contractors’ performance will be regulated and monitored through the use of prison monitors and the rigorous reporting requirements imposed by this legislation. 
The bill clearly identifies those things that must be provided for in every contract for the management of any prison. These include performance objectives and standards particularly regarding the secure containment of prisoners; staff selection and training; the provision of rehabilitative programmes to address the causes of prisoners’ offending; obligations to manage the interface with other Government agencies such as the police and the courts; and termination provisions governing the right of the Crown to step in in the event that a contract manager is failing to meet the terms of the contract. 
The bill provides for all prison management contracts to be tabled in Parliament 12 sitting days after they have been entered into. It establishes a specific role for prison monitors. Monitors will be based within specific contract-managed prisons. They will be tasked with assessing and reporting on the management of each prison for which they are responsible. The bill sets up a number of significant reporting obligations with which the contractor must comply. These include reports on all serious incidents within the prison involving escapes escape attempts or prisoner deaths; reports detailing the use of disciplinary powers within the prison and the outcome of all disciplinary proceedings taken against prisoners; and reports providing the details and results of all random drug-testing undertaken within the prison. 
The bill establishes clear rules around Crown liability. It also imposes a duty on the contractor to indemnify the Crown if the actions or omissions of its staff cause loss to the Crown. The bill requires the contractor to carry sufficient indemnity insurance to cover these liabilities. 
The bill does not place any statutory limitation on the duration of the contract that can be entered into. It leaves this to be negotiated between the parties. This approach providing the parties with the freedom to negotiate on duration is one of several key terms and conditions alongside cost performance objectives and a return on investment over time. 
The bill requires contract prison managers to comply with the requirements of several relevant New Zealand laws. These include the Corrections Act and its regulations the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and those parts of the State Sector Act that invoke the requirement to be a good employer. The bill also requires the contractor to comply with all relevant international obligations and standards. Because all these requirements must be expressed as terms within the management contract failure to comply with any of them will place the contractor in breach of its contract with the Crown. These conditions may seem onerous but it is no less than we expect from our public prison system. This Government will expect both public and private providers to deliver efficient and effective custodial services and to be accountable for the way in which they do so. 
Finally the bill protects the interests of staff who are members of the Government Superannuation Fund. It ensures that existing staff who transfer their employment to contract prison managers are still deemed to be in Government employment for the purposes of their Government Superannuation Fund entitlements. 
One matter that remains to be addressed is around the flow of information between contract prison managers the department and other agencies such as the police and the courts. This is necessary to enable every agency involved to carry out its appropriate tasks duties and functions effectively. The Department of Corrections is in discussion with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as to how this should be managed. Advice will be provided to the select committee before the bill is considered. 
Allowing for the competitive tendering of prison management on a case by case basis provides an opportunity for innovation efficiency and cost-effectiveness. I consider that this bill will provide a sound legislative framework through which the Government will be able to realise those benefits. Therefore I commend this bill to the House.