Scots firm paid to transport prisoners missed more than 45,000 transfer targets since 2020
A company paid to transport prisoners has missed more than 45,000 transfer targets since 2020.
The shocking figures of how GEOAmey is breaching its £238million contract have been released under freedom of information laws.
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They show that the company hasn’t made 45,529 trips to get lags to courts, hospitals or back to jail in the last 42 months.
The confusion ensues when the Auditor General warns it could take years to clear the backlog of 28,029 jury trials and 24,946 JP or sheriff-only trials.
We have previously reported that prison officials are being offered overtime to transport inmates when GEOAmey cancels.
In June, wardens at Polmont Nick, Stirlingshire, had to make a 400-mile round trip to Elgin with a scammer.
And last month, Sheriff Derek O’Carroll lashed out in Edinburgh over a pre-trial detainee’s failure to show up for sentencing.
He said: “It’s a common occurrence now.
“That’s because GEOAmey doesn’t have enough staff.”
Russell Findlay, the Conservative shadow justice secretary, said: “The public will be appalled that crime victims will have to wait because a highly paid contractor fails to transfer prisoners.”
GEOAmey’s eight-year contract began in January 2019.
Last night, a spokesman said: “Since 2019, we have successfully transported around nine out of 10 prisoners to their location on time, with less than one percent of movements being canceled or not executed due to the failure of GEOAmey.”
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