Ministry of Justice on hunt for new firm for tagging contract
THE MINISTRY of Justice yesterday said it is searching for a new firm to take on part of its prisoner tagging contract, after talks with preferred bidder Buddi fell through.
FTSE 100 outsourcing firms Serco and G4S were stripped of the contract last year after allegations of fraud.
It was then split into four parts, with Capita, Astrium, Telefonica and Buddi announced as the four preferred bidders for different segments of the contract last August.
The MoJ and British technology firm Buddi, which was due to supply the GPS tags, said talks ended because they were unable to each an agreement on certain commercial aspects of the proposed deal.
An MoJ spokesperson told City A.M. that the MoJ will invite a new bidder for Buddi’s part of the contract. He would not confirm who the new company would be, but said it was “very unlikely” that G4S or Serco would be invited to bid.