Serco-run Wiri prison among NZ’s worst

Private prison operator Serco’s Wiri facility is among the five lowest-ranked prisons in the country, according to newly released ratings from the Department of Corrections.

However, Corrections Minister Judith Collins says the new prison’s performance is not unexpected, given it is still working towards ‘‘full maturity’’.

Corrections said Wiri, which opened in May 2015, could not yet be directly compared with other prisons as it was ‘‘building up to full capacity’’ until October last year.

However, if its performance between then and June this year was extrapolated over a one-year period, the prison would be among the bottom five in the country.

The factors determining Wiri’s ‘‘proxy grading’’ were the same as for other prisons, including serious prisoner-on-prisoner and prisoner-on-staff assaults, as well as positive drug tests.

Other prisons in the ‘‘needs improvement’’ category - the lowest available - were Christchurch Women’s, Auckland, Whanganui, and Hawkes Bay Regional.

Corrections took over control of the Serco-run Mt Eden prison in July last year after allegations of fight clubs were revealed, and announced last December that it would invoke a six-year ‘‘break point’’ in the Mt Eden contract in March 2017 - a decision supported by the private operator.

A recently released report from Corrections chief inspector Andy Fitzharris found fights at Mt Eden were likely happening at least once a week.

Labour Corrections spokesman MP Kelvin Davis said he was not surprised by the rankings, given what he had heard about Wiri.

‘‘The prisoners that I speak to say that aside from Wiri being a bit cleaner and the food a bit better, it’s probably the worst prison many of them have been into - some are even requesting to go back to Paremoremo because they’re treated better and their concerns are at least investigated.’’

Davis said the reasons for the problems at Wiri were unclear, but the Government needed to ‘‘work it out and sort it out’’.

‘‘You want these people to be better people when they come out than when they went in, but at the moment they’re coming out damaged and traumatised and in a worse state when they went in.’’

A Serco spokeswoman said the prison ‘‘achieved a successful buildup and has been operating well under our management’’.

‘‘We are determined to improve on this rating next quarter, when our results will more accurately reflect on our performance.’’

The company was focused on operating ‘‘safe, secure facilities’’, and its New Zealand contract set clear performance standards with penalties if it didn’t meet them, the spokeswoman said. - Fairfax NZ