Government accused of wasting £9m on failed court fines privatisation bid

Ministers announced last month that the procurement process had been abandoned

(Getty)

The Government has been accused of wasting nearly £9m on a failed privatisation bid that would have seen the collection of court fines outsourced to an American conglomerate.

Ministers announced last month that the procurement process had been abandoned, in a major policy shift following the appointment of Michael Gove as Justice Secretary.

US firm Synnex Concentrix had been identified as the preferred bidder for the £500m deal, despite criticism of its aggressive approach to tackling tax credit fraud.

Now justice minister Shailesh Vara has confirmed that, as of September, the procurement process, which concluded with the Government keeping the service in-house, had cost the taxpayer £8.7m.

The figure was revealed following a written parliamentary question from Labour’s shadow justice minsters Lord Falconer and Andrew Slaughter.

Lord Falconer told The Independent that the entire process, which began in July 2013, had been “a shocking waste of money”.

“After the farce of ending up with a single, seemingly unsuitable, bidder before cancelling the whole process, we now learn that they have wasted almost £9million on this pointless exercise,” he said. “Ministers clearly haven't learned anything from the failure of the SERCO and G4S tagging contracts or from the reckless privatisation of probation services that puts the public at risk.

“This is more evidence of a Government that has got its priorities wrong and needs to get its act together.”

Synnex Concentrix had faced criticism earlier this year over threatening letters to lone parents, which suggested thousands of tax credits claimants may be committing fraud, in what was described as a vast “fishing expedition” by those targeted.

Responding to Labour’s inquiry about the cost of the court fines procurement exercise, Mr Vara said it had been dropped in order to ensure the service delivered the best possible value to taxpayer.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Ensuring value for money for our key services is a priority for this government.

“We believe that in-house modernisation is the best option for HM Courts and Tribunals Service and this decision will provide best value for taxpayers' money in the long run.

“The project is a complex one. The costs involved so far reflect this."