After the payments made to Reliance Custodial Service under its contract to transport prisoners in Scotland were analysed here, the Scottish Prisons Service took another look at the figures.
 
It realised that it had forgotten to include end-of-year adjustments. When these are taken into account, Reliance’s payments per prisoner escort rose by 7 per cent in 2009-10, not the 15 per cent implied by the previous figures. The revised figures show a payment of £24.885 million in 2008-09, rather than £24.111 million (£131.28 per prisoner escort), and £24.221 in 2009-10 (£140.12 per prisoner escort).
 
A 7 per cent rise in hard times is not bad going. And the correction shows that it’s just as well somebody monitors published figures so that, eventually, they are right. But actual performance outcomes, other than those in the table, have never been subject to external scrutiny, and perhaps should be before next contract is let. Also, the next contract must be so written that these performance outcomes are in the public domain.