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Industry | Prison Service |
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Founded | 1993 |
Founder | Pierre Bellon |
Parent | Sodexo |
Sodexo Justice Services (formerly United Kingdom Detention Services and Kalyx), a subsidiary of Sodexo, is a private prison operator in the United Kingdom and several other countries. [1] The company changed its name to Sodexo Justice Services in 2011. [2]
As of 2023, the company fully operates six prisons in the United Kingdom. It served 84 prisons in other countries with non-management services, including maintenance, food services, laundry, prisoner education and work training, gardening, and transportation. Of these prisons, 34 were in France, 33 were in the Netherlands, and six or fewer were in each of Australia, Belgium, Chile, Sweden, Slovenia, Italy, and Germany. [1]
In the United Kingdom, Sodexo Justice Services provides services to the Ministry of Justice: particularly design, construction, management and financing of contracts for PFI prisons. In December 2008, it opened a new prison in West Lothian on behalf of the Scottish Prison Service. [3]
In August 2013, Sodexo Justice Services was criticised in an official report for subjecting a female prisoner to "cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment", which "appears to amount to torture" at HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, England. The woman was kept segregated from other prisoners in an "unkempt and squalid" prison cell for more than five years. [4]
In October 2016, a video of naked Sodexo prisoners pretending to be dogs was found, prompting an investigation into the violence and humiliation by Sodexo. [5]
In September 2017, Annabella Landsberg died in the care of HMP Peterborough, a Sodexo managed prison. After two weeks of evidence, the inquest jury found "failings on the part of the prison, healthcare staff, GPs and custody officers that contributed to the death of Annabella Landsberg". [6]
On 13 February 2017, the Sodexo managed prison HMP Northumberland was featured in the BBC's Panorama programme, highlighting serious mismanagement issues related to widespread illegal substance abuse. [7]
Soon after, the Sodexo managed prison HMP Forest Bank was alleged to be having a 'spice' epidemic in an article in the Manchester Evening News : "The devastated sister of a prisoner found dead in his cell says inmates are being regularly carried out of their cells high on Spice". [8]
In December 2018, Sodexo was accused of neglect and systemic failures resulting in the death of female prisoner Natasha Chin. [9] Members of the charity INQUEST have pointed to previous neglect-related deaths at the same prison and have suggested that no decisive actions have been taken to act in prevention of additional future deaths. [10]
In February 2019, Sodexo was criticised by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Justice for failing to prevent repeated and systemic breaches of the human rights of inmates at the Sodexo-operated HMP Peterborough. This stemmed from a series of illegal strip-searches of prisoners at the jail in 2017, including one inmate who was menstruating and another who was transitioning from female to male. Justice Julian Knowles described the illegal procedures as "humiliating and embarrassing". [11]
In October 2019, a woman gave birth alone in her cell at HMP Bronzefield. The baby died at the prison. Surrey police said in a statement: "The death is currently being treated as unexplained and an investigation is continuing to establish the full circumstances of what happened". The case raised serious questions about how the woman came to be unsupervised and without medical support during her labour and birth, and about the conditions at the privately run prison. [12] Four women have died at Bronzefield since July 2016. [13]
Name | Location | Opened | Capacity | Security class |
---|---|---|---|---|
HMP Bronzefield | Surrey | 2004 | 527 | Adult Female/Juvenile |
HMP Forest Bank | City of Salford | 2000 | 1460 | Adult Male/Category B |
HMP Peterborough | Peterborough | 2005 | 840 (480 male, 360 female) | Category B/Adults and Young Offenders |
HMP Addiewell | West Lothian, Scotland | 2008 | 700 to 800 depending on contract | Adult Male Maximum Security |
HMP Northumberland | Northumberland, England | 2011 (managed by Sodexo since 2013) | 1348 | Adult Male/Category C |
HMP Lowdham Grange | Lowdham, England | 1998 (managed by Sodexo since 16 February 2023) | 888 | Adult Male/Category B |
HM Prison Pentonville is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury area of the London Borough of Islington, north London. In 2015 the justice secretary, Michael Gove, described Pentonville as "the most dramatic example of failure" within the prisons estate.
HM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, until its closure in 2016.
His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service, which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales.
His Majesty's Young Offender Institution is a type of prison in Great Britain, intended for offenders aged up to 18, although some prisons cater for younger offenders from ages 15 to 17, who are classed as juvenile offenders. Typically those aged under 15 will be held in a Secure Children's Home and those over 15 will be held in either a Young Offender Institution or Secure Training Centre. A person is a young offender until they become 18, where they will be sent to an adult prison or can remain in the YOI until they turn 21 if deemed appropriate.
Sodexo is a French food services and facilities management company headquartered in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. It has 412,088 employees as of 2021, operates in 55 countries and serves 100 million customers on a daily basis. It is Europe’s second largest company of its type by both number of employees and revenue after Compass Group.
HMP Bronzefield is an adult and young offender female prison located on the outskirts of Ashford in Surrey, England. Bronzefield is the only purpose-built private prison solely for women in the UK, and is the largest female prison in Europe. The prison is operated by Sodexo Justice Services.
HM Prison Forest Bank is a Category B men's private prison, in the Agecroft area of Pendlebury in Salford, England. The prison is operated by Sodexo Justice Services.
HM Prison Birmingham is a Category B men's prison, located in the Winson Green area of Birmingham, England. The prison was operated by G4S from 2011, before it was returned to HM Prison and Probation Service in August 2018. The government takeover was originally planned to be temporary pending improvement, but became permanent in April 2019.
HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs is a Category B men's local prison, located beside Hammersmith Hospital and W12 Conferences on Du Cane Road in the White City in West London, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Doncaster, is a Category B men's private prison, located in the Marshgate area of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. The prison is operated by Serco.
HM Prison Peterborough is a Category B private prison for men, and a closed prison for women and female young offenders, located in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The prison is operated by Sodexo Justice Services, and is the only dual purpose-built prison holding males and females in the United Kingdom. The prison, which has a population of 320 inmates, comprises four large wings, each with a separate housing arrangement for female detainees and male detainees. It is managed by the Newton Secure Training Centre (NSTC), and the associated training centre, which operates under Sodexo Services, comprises 26 housing units, ranging from 12-storey purpose built units to 10-storey semiprivate accommodation units.
HM Prison Styal is a Closed Category prison for female adults and young offenders in Styal, Cheshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Winchester is a Category B men's prison, located in Winchester, Hampshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Liverpool is a category B local men's prison in Walton, Liverpool, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Chelmsford is a Category B men's prison and Young Offenders Institution, located in Chelmsford, Essex, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Eastwood Park is a women's closed category prison, located in the village of Falfield in South Gloucestershire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Hewell is a multiple security category men's prison in the village of Tardebigge in Worcestershire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HMP New Hall is a Closed Category prison for female adults, juveniles and young offenders. The prison is located in the village of Flockton in West Yorkshire, England. New Hall is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HMP Addiewell is a prison located near to the village of Addiewell in West Lothian, Scotland. HMP Addiewell is operated by a private company, Sodexo Justice Services and contracted to the Scottish Prison Service. The prison holds adult males who have been convicted as well as those being held on remand.
HM Prison Northumberland is a Category C men's prison, located in Morpeth near the village of Acklington in Northumberland, England. Since 2013 Northumberland has been operated by private prison firm Sodexo Justice Services under contract with His Majesty's Prison Service.