At least the government aren't so wedded to privatising at all costs, so that 15% of prisons are privately run. This is the largest proportion in the world. Disappointingly, for all haters of the public sector, the prisons with the most violence and rates of reoffending are all privately run. It seems that, to meet their budget constraints, officers are paid up to 20% less than the public sector officers. Recruitment of high calibrate officers has proven somewhat difficult in the privately run prisons. Who'd have thought it....?
G4S happily state they have 400 inmates working 40 hours a week for £2 a day. They also have the most overcrowding in their prisons (it's as they they get paid for the number inside, regardless of outcome or staffing levels.......)