Auckland South Corrections Facility Performance Report

Quarter ending 30 September 2018

Summary

Auckland South Corrections Facility (ASCF) continues to operate as a safe and secure prison and has been rated as Exceeding in the Prison Custodial Performance Table for July 2018 through to the end of September 2018.

The placement of ASCF in South Auckland is intended to give many of its prisoners the chance to stay close to their families and to give them a better chance of successfully reintegrating after release.

Businesses such as PlaceMakers, Eco-Pods and Envirowaste work with prisoners to give them real world employment skills. This also flows through to the industry qualifications prisoners are undertaking in welding, engineering and carpentry, while they are also developing practical job skills.

Because ASCF is privately run, unlike other New Zealand prisons, it has a contract with Corrections to achieve goals.

The ASCF contract takes an outcomes based approach.  It incentivises SecureFuture to deliver better outcomes than Corrections in reducing re-offending, without compromising on safety and security.

The contract has a set of Key Performance Indicator (KPI) measures that make up the performance framework for ASCF.

If ASCF breaches a Key Performance Indicator, money can be held back (called abatements) or for particularly serious incidents a significant financial penalty applies.

The contract works well as it gives Corrections a strong chain of accountability that is backed up with onsite monitoring through embedded Corrections Staff members.

The Prison Custodial Performance Table allows us to compare each prison, with respect to safety and security measures including ASCF.

ASCF is not included in the Industry, Treatment and Learning (ITL) Performance Table because ASCF is required to report on outcomes rather than performance indicators relating to the delivery of ITL programmes.

How ASCF is structured

ASCF is a high security men’s prison located at Wiri in Auckland.  It received its first prisoners in May 2015.

The Department of Corrections has contracted SecureFuture (a Public Private Partnership[1]) to design, build, finance, operate and maintain ASCF.

SecureFuture subcontracted Fletcher Construction to design and construct ASCF, and has subcontracted Serco to operate the prison.

ASCF forms part of Corrections’ prison estate, but will be privately operated by Serco for a period of 25 years.  Spotless Facility Services is subcontracted to Serco to maintain the prison facility.

The prison was built by Fletcher Construction between 2012 and 2015 and at the time was the largest construction project in New Zealand.  ASCF currently has the second highest prison population in the country.

About ASCF

As a recently built prison, ASCF provides many rehabilitation options.  The prison comprises 32 buildings in total including the Whare Manaaki and Fale Pasifika and the industry training capability is one of the largest of any prison in the country.

ASCF provides work and training opportunities for prisoners on site through partnerships with businesses such as Placemakers, Eco-Pods and Envirowaste.  The work and life skills gained through the industry and learning programmes provide prisoners with realistic employment skills for when they leave prison.

Many prisoners are expected to take responsibility for their day to day arrangements, including budgeting, meal planning, cooking and doing their own laundry.

The contract

The goals set out in the contract between SecureFuture and the Department of Corrections are to:

  • Ensure sentence compliance in a secure, safe, positive environment
  • Achieve better reducing reoffending outcomes, and
  • Ensure better outcomes for Māori prisoners.

The contract has been designed to deliver on performance and innovation.  It requires SecureFuture to deliver better outcomes than Corrections, while never compromising on the bottom line of safety and security.

The performance regime is managed through an agreed set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and is comprised of two mechanisms:

  1. Financial
    • Chargeable Events

    These cover serious custodial failures: a prisoner escaping or absconding, an unnatural death in custody, the death of a person other than a prisoner as a result of the action of a prisoner, a riot or a hostage event.  Any failures in these areas result in an immediate and significant financial penalty (ranging from $180,000 to $600,000 per event).

    • Financial Abatements

    The financial abatement system records the number of times a KPI is not met. The financial impact varies depending on the seriousness of the KPI breach and how many times it occurs, with multiple breaches resulting in multiple penalties.

    • Incentive Payments

    The incentive payments focus solely on rehabilitation and reintegration outcomes. There are two incentive payments possible: the first for achieving better outcomes for Māori prisoners and, if that is met, the second incentive payment is available for achieving better outcomes for the general prison population.  SecureFuture can receive incentive payments if fewer prisoners serving their sentence return to custody within a 24 month period after their release, compared to those serving their sentence in prisons run by Corrections.

  2. Contractual
  • Service Failure Points (SFPs) accrue as a result of any KPI breach and are a mechanism to monitor performance.  As the number of SFPs increase the level of intervention available to Corrections increases.  This can include requiring additional reporting or a rectification programme to the Department’s expectations. The KPIs measure both custodial and rehabilitation performance and outcomes.

Monitoring and reporting arrangements

Reporting Obligations

SecureFuture (and Serco as prison operator) is required to provide monthly, quarterly and annual reports to Corrections.  The reports provide information on custodial performance and rehabilitation and reintegration information.  In addition, the Prison Director at ASCF is a member of Corrections Northern Regional Team.  The Prison Director meets regularly with the Northern Regional Commissioner.

Prison Monitors – as at 30 September 2018

Corrections employs a team of Monitors who are based at ASCF and provide assurance over the activities undertaken by Serco. Their monitoring role includes inspections of prison operations against contractual and legislative requirements, and ensuring the ASCF site is operating as a safe and secure prison.

Corrections has the option of appointing Special Monitors for short periods of time to undertake specific reviews, investigations and evaluations at ASCF.  Special Monitors are subject matter experts and provide full written reports on their findings.

A monthly report is provided by the Monitors to both Corrections and ASCF.  A quarterly report is provided to the Chief Executive Corrections.

Prison Inspectors

Prison Inspectors are empowered under the Corrections Act 2004, the Corrections Regulations 2005, and the mandate of the Chief Executive. This mandate means Prison Inspectors check and report on the fair, safe, secure and humane treatment of prisoners and people detained within the Corrections system, including those detained at ASCF.

Ombudsman

The Ombudsman will action complaints and can proactively investigate ASCF in the same way as undertaken for all other prisons within the network.

Performance Results

Custodial performance

ASCF has been placed in the Exceeding category of the Prison Custodial Performance Table when measured against other New Zealand prisons for the period from July 2018 to September 2018.

Financial penalties at ASCF for the period from July 2018 to September 2018 is higher than the previous quarter (Q4), and overall penalties continue to be lower than 1 percent of its funding.  This also indicates that ASCF is performing well.

Rehabilitation performance

The ASCF contract takes an outcomes based approach in measuring performance against the Department’s reducing reoffending targets. The reducing reimprisonment Incentive Payment is a contractual mechanism that rewards over performance in reducing reimprisonment whilst delivering to key operational requirements.

SecureFuture met the contracted minimum targets by reducing reoffending by 12.52% for Qualifying Maori prisoners, and reducing reoffending by 36.56% for Qualifying Non-Maori prisoners. These results meant that a total payment of $1.1m was made to SecureFuture based on the contracted Incentive Payment mechanism.

During Quarter One of the 2018/ 2019 financial year:

  • ASCF’s horticulture team produced 649kg of fresh vegetables from the gardens.
  • Connex automotive wiring harness assembly production accounted for 1745 hours of manufacturing.
  • 9 Skip Bins were repaired or painted during the quarter.
  • 7 trailers and 649m3 of timber framing were made by prisoners in their PlaceMakers jobs.
  • 1 cabin was made by prisoners during their Eco-Pods role, and 19 pallets of field stakes were also made by prisoners during the quarter.
  • 1474 hours of Painting was completed for the removal of tagging and graffiti in cells.

Contractual abatements


View larger image

The following is a summary of the performance regime during the three months from July 2018 to September 2018:

  • Category 1 KPIs (Chargeable Events).  There were no Chargeable Events and no financial abatement as a result.
  • Category 2 KPIs (Key Operational Incidents). There were 8 instances where KPIs were not met. These related to two cases of Serious Prisoner on Prisoner assault, one case of Serious Prisoner on Staff assault, four Non-Compliance within Reporting Timeframes and an upheld complaint by persons other than Prisoners resulting in financial abatements of $388,152. KPI abatements noted here reflect timing of when these are applied and not incident date.
  • Category 3 KPIs (Custodial Performance – Operational Incidents).  These KPIs are measured each quarter as Red, Amber or Green.  There were no financial abatements for Quarter One.
  • Category 4 KPIs (Rehabilitation & Reintegration).  These KPIs are measured each quarter as Red, Amber, Yellow or Green.  These KPIs were assessed as Green in Quarter One as ASCF met the contracted outcomes for prisoners in relation to employment, health and wellbeing, and managing finances. This means that, there was no financial abatement for Quarter One.

The total financial abatement for Quarter one, FY 2018/19 was $388,152. The total financial abatement for all quarters of the 2017/18 financial year (1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018) was $257,491.


1The primary purpose of a Public Private Partnership is to improve the delivery of service outcomes from major public infrastructure.  For more information on the New Zealand Public Private Partnership (PPP) Programme see: http://www.treasury.govt.nz/statesector/ppp