Better Public Value
| Prioritising our resources to improve services and ensure value for taxpayers’ money. |
Investing to improve our facilities
Prisons
A four year capital investment programme has been put in place for the prison network, with the aim of upgrading and enhancing the network to support reducing re-offending. Corrections is investing $105 million in Rolleston, Waikeria, Tongariro/Rangipo, Whanganui, and Invercargill Prisons, enhancing site security and public safety through measures such as prison control points, high security unit hardening, perimeter fences and improved electronic security. This work will ensure prisons are in good condition and fit for purpose, and will improve security and safety for staff, prisoners, and the public.
Upgrading Community Corrections sites
An investment of $80 million has been made in upgrades to the majority of Community Corrections sites. At least 70% of these upgrades will be completed by 2018.
2014/15 was the second year of upgrades to Community Corrections sites. A multi-year programme is being implemented, focusing on providing facilities that support offenders to reduce their likelihood of re-offending, as well as improving safety and security for visitors and staff. The changes have been partially informed by the tragic events at the Asburton Work and Income site in 2014. Corrections is also consolidating the number of Community Corrections sites, to allow more efficient management of our property portfolio. The reduction in numbers is particularly linked to the growth of Community Corrections hubs, which are large, new sites that can replace a number of smaller sites in the area. An example of a Community Corrections hub can be found in the new facility at Hamilton, which will replace at least seven existing sites.
Self-service kiosk pilot
There are approximately 240 kiosks installed in prisons around the country. The current kiosks are outdated and as a result are under-utilised, under-valued and are subject to vandalism.
As a forerunner to embarking on a nation-wide replacement programme, the proposed replacement technology was installed at Hawkes Bay Regional Prison (HBRP) in July 2015, and the outcome from this pilot will inform decisions for a wider roll-out.
In addition to providing information to prisoners, the new robust and secure kiosks will offer self-service functions such as canteen ordering, appointment requests and trust account balances.
The delivery of personalised services to prisoners through the new kiosks will reduce staff time spent on administrative tasks and will help prisoners to develop self-management skills that will be useful for life outside of prison.
In the self-care units and the Whare Orange Ake at HBRP the kiosk functionality will be provided through networked PCs with applications such as word processing.
Auckland South Corrections Facility
The Public Private Partnership model is an example of the different approaches Corrections utilises in order to deliver better value for money to the government and public of New Zealand. Whether it is the Public Private Partnership to re-build and maintain the high security unit of Auckland Prison, or the consolidation of contracts for the Electronic Monitoring of offenders to a single provider (3M), Corrections is always seeking the best value for money, both in terms of financial investment and the achievement of outcomes.
Auckland South Corrections Facility (ASCF) represents our innovative procurement approach to the building of our assets and management of our operations. ASCF will house 960 prisoners and therefore also represents a significant expansion to the capacity of the prison network; following the planned closure of units at other sites that are no longer fit for purpose, the net gain for Corrections will be over 330 beds.
ASCF has been developed through a Public Private Partnership between Corrections and SecureFuture. SecureFuture has managed the financing, design, and construction of the facility, and is responsible for its ongoing operation, security, and maintenance.
This has resulted in lower costs to Corrections than would have been incurred through standard procurement of a comparable level of capacity through a traditional build. Corrections will take full management of the site at the end of the 25 year contract period.
SecureFuture can earn incentive payments if it reduces rates of re-offending by at least 10% more than that achieved at prisons that are directly operated by Corrections. Any innovations developed to achieve this will become intellectual property of Corrections.
The facility is located in the centre of south Auckland, close to community groups, employers, and the families of many prisoners. The prison is designed and built to be a centre of learning and training, with purpose-built facilities to teach welding and building, and computers in cells on which prisoners can receive literacy and numeracy training. Several partnerships have been developed with local businesses and volunteer groups, creating further opportunities for the rehabilitation, training and employment of offenders during and after their time in prison.
| A new 960 bed men’s prison has opened in Auckland |
| Secured Justice Sector funding for 94 new beds |
Ongoing reprioritisation into frontline services
A large proportion of Corrections’ staff is employed in frontline roles with only 8.7% of roles performing back office support functions. In 2012 our back office staffing model was revised under the Unifying our Efforts restructure to better support Corrections’ unified service delivery model and reallocate resources into frontline services.
In April 2014 Corrections initiated a systematic review to lift productivity and improve efficiency, and to ensure that corporate overheads continue to be managed tightly. This has allowed Corrections to steadily increase investment in staff and programmes that increase the number of opportunities for offenders to participate in the programmes that help address their needs. Particular emphasis has been placed on increasing access to alcohol and drug treatment programmes, developing and expanding rehabilitation interventions at special treatment units, investing in family violence prevention and providing reintegration services.
The increased investment in delivering frontline services to reduce re-offending forms part of Corrections’ continued change programme to raise productivity and performance while delivering outcomes in a smart and efficient way.
| $105 million is being invested in Rolleston, Waikeria, Tongariro/Rangipo, Whanganui and Invercargill Prisons |
| $80 million of upgrades have been made to Community Corrections sites |