SERCO TEST & DISGRACE

Profits soar as tracing figures hit shock low

PROFITS of outsourcing giant Serco are soaring after it was paid hundreds of millions to help run the failed test and trace system.

In a week in which the programme hit a new low, campaigners labelled the windfall “obscene” and scientists demanded it be dismantled.

Serco told the Stock Exchange it expected profits in the three months to July to be £160million to £165m, compared with earlier estimates of £135m to £150m.

The firm, which also helps process asylum seekers and run prisons, got £108m of taxpayers’ cash to set up tracing centres. Its contract was extended in August and it could eventually get up to £410m extra.

However, latest figures show just 62.6% of contacts were reached in the week to October 7, the fewest since the scheme began.

Labour’ s Rachel Reeves said: “This is grim beyond belief.

“Serco rakes in the profits while people pay the price for its failure.

“It is time to sack them and bring in a short circuit-breaker to fix test and trace.”

But the company insisted its performance had been “outstanding”.

Pascale Robinson, of campaign group We Own It, said: “Serco celebrating increased profits and planning to pay dividends to shareholders shows all that’s wrong with government handling of the pandemic. With people losing their jobs and facing huge uncertainty, it is obscene. It’s time to kick Serco out and put local teams in charge.”

Scientists agree. The Independent Sage group is demanding an immediate circuit break so test and trace can be dismantled and handed to regional health bodies.

Prof Christina Pagel ,of University College London, said: “It would buy us precious time.”

Firm rakes in the cash as people pay for its failure RACHEL REEVES SHADOW CABINET

LOSING BATTLE Serco worker at test centre