Group 4 to run Buckley Hall
01 September 1994
Group 4, the private security company that has been unmercifully criticised for its incompetence in prison management and escort work, has won a £33 million contract to run Buckley Hall prison in greater Manchester. It is the fourth prison to be placed in the hands of private management and will house 350 prisoners.
The decision is controversial and follows a series of escapes that took place when Group 4 took over the prison escort service in Humberside and east Midlands. They have also been criticised for their running of Wolds remand prison. Recently the Howard League submitted a memorandum to the United Nations condemning the practice of contracting out the management of prisons to private companies and arguing that it is against international law.
HM Prison Service press release, 29.7.94.