51-446: Villawood Immigration Detention Centre , originally Villawood Migrant Hostel or Villawood Migrant Centre , split into a separate section named Westbridge Migrant Hostel from 1968 to 1984, is an Australian immigration detention facility located in the suburb of Villawood in Sydney , Australia. Built in 1949 to accommodate post-war refugees from Europe, a section of the original camp
102-640: A Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Refugee Council showed that Serco had been charged nearly £3 million by the Home Office for repeatedly breaching its contract to house asylum seekers in Glasgow and Northern Ireland. Serco provide facilities management services at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital , Leicester Royal Infirmary , and Wishaw General Hospital . The company held
153-773: A contract for Suffolk Community Healthcare in 2012, had 72 job vacancies after previously cutting 137 positions. Problems identified by Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group include "staff capacity, skill mix, workload, succession planning and morale, training, communication, mobile working, care co-ordination centre processes, incidents and near miss incidents". In April 2014, Serco revealed that it would lose almost £18 million on three of its NHS contracts. It had made provisions for losses in its Braintree and Cornwall contracts, which were cancelled early, and had also made provisions for losses in its contract for services in Suffolk. Serco claimed it would take longer to deliver
204-562: A corporate renewal programme during the 2010s, created in collaboration with the United Kingdom government, which overhauled the management of contracts and commercial auditing. Serco was founded in 1929 as RCA Services Limited , a British-based division of the Radio Corporation of America , and initially provided technical services to the cinema industry. RCA Services Limited began providing services to government departments during
255-525: A new £70 million eight-year contract to run Yarl's Wood has been criticised; Natasha Walter , of Women for Refugee Women, said "Serco is clearly unfit to manage a centre where vulnerable women are held and it is unacceptable the government continues to entrust Serco with the safety of women who are survivors of sexual violence." During 2019, a fine of £19.2 million was imposed on Serco following delayed legal action started in 2013 for fraud and false accounting over its electronic tagging service for
306-569: A number of riots and self-harm incidents. He was periodically taken to hospital to be drip-fed and rehydrated, and then returned to detention. Management of the centre was outsourced to private company G4S Australia from 2003 to 2009. In January 2008, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) said the high-security section of Villawood Detention Centre was the "most prison like" of all Australia's immigration detention centres, and demanded it be closed immediately. The HREOC described
357-545: A provider of IT services to the United States government in exchange for $ 524 million. During 2013, both Serco and its competitor G4S were found to have maintained inaccurate records and overcharged the UK Government for electronically monitoring criminals. In November 2014, its share price, which stood at 674p before the taxpayer scandal broke in 2013, collapsed to 218.7p, after four profit warnings. That same month, it
408-705: A three-year contract extension valued at £50 million to continue maintaining and distributing the bikes, including the newly introduced e-Bikes. Serco has operated a number of train operating companies . It has a 50% shareholding in Serco-Abellio that has a concession to operate the Merseyrail franchise in Liverpool until 2028, and previously operated the Northern Rail franchise from December 2004 until March 2016. Between April 2015 and June 2023, Serco operated
459-567: A £4 million contract to operate all air traffic control services for Coventry Airport . Serco was part of a consortium called Trusted Borders, led by Raytheon Systems Limited , to put in place e-Borders under a contract awarded by the UK Home Office in 2007. As a subcontractor to Raytheon, Serco was responsible for delivering the infrastructure and service management of e-Borders; Raytheon had its contract terminated in July 2010 and Serco at
510-404: Is confusion and panic among the community – some of whom have limited English and who may not be affected by Serco’s announcement. Both Serco and the Home Office have a responsibility to put this vulnerable group at ease". Two asylum seekers started a hunger strike. In January 2019, it was reported that Serco had lost the contract to provide housing to asylum seekers in Glasgow. That same year,
561-786: Is headquartered in Hook, Hart , England. The company operates in Continental Europe , the Middle East, the Asia Pacific region, including Australia and Hong Kong, and North America. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index . The company was founded as RCA Services Limited in 1929, a UK-based division of the Radio Corporation of America . The company began providing technical and engineering services to
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#1732858488463612-461: Is located at 15 Birmingham Avenue, Villawood. It houses a mix of asylum seekers, people who have overstayed their visas and Section 501 detainees who have had their visas cancelled following criminal convictions and are awaiting deportation after serving prison sentences. At 31 May 2021 it held 485 people including 278 Section 501 visa cancellations, 74 asylum seekers who arrived by boat, and 133 detainees in other categories. People refused entry into
663-507: Is responsible for the contracted-out court escort services in the south-east area, formerly a role undertaken by HM Prison Service . In September 2013, Serco was accused of an extensive cover-up over sexual abuse at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire , England. During August 2014, it was criticised for using immigrant detainees as cheap labour, with some being paid as little as £1 per hour. The decision to award Serco
714-593: The Caledonian Sleeper between London and Scotland; the contract was terminated early after Serco's request to rebase the loss making contract was deemed by Transport Scotland to not offer value. In 1997, Serco purchased the Railtest business as part of the privatisation of British Rail . Included in the sale was a management contract for the Old Dalby Test Track . Between 1997 and 2004, Serco operated
765-749: The National Rail Enquiry Service under contract to the Association of Train Operating Companies . It maintains Network Rail 's fleet of infrastructure and maintenance trains at the Railway Technical Centre . In Scotland, Serco has operated the NorthLink Ferries ferry service since July 2012. In September 2018, the firm commenced operating a bicycle-sharing system under contract to Transport for Edinburgh ; these scheme
816-585: The Second World War . After the onset of the conflict, the company was contracted by the British War Office due to the company's engineering and technical background to supply the department with equipment which would simulate the sound of warfare to confuse the enemy. During 1952, RCA Services was contracted to produce submarine-detecting sonar equipment for the United States Navy . In 1960, it
867-492: The British War Office during the Second World War . During the Cold War era, it specialised in the provision of defense systems engineering and facilities management services, including the maintenance of sonar , early warning radar and satellite systems . Following a management buyout , the firm changed to the name Serco ('Services Company') in 1987 and was listed on the London Stock Exchange one year later. The company
918-679: The London's Docklands Light Railway (DLR) under franchise. In November 2005, TfL announced that Serco had retained the DLR franchise for seven years from May 2006; this contract was extended until September 2014 in January 2013. However, in July 2014, the DLR franchise was awarded to KeolisAmey Docklands Limited, thus Serco handed over operations on 7 December 2014. Serco operated Scatsta Airport in Shetland until its closure in 2020. During June 2010, Serco signed
969-601: The Ministry of Justice. Serco was also ordered to pay the full amount of the Serious Fraud Office 's investigative costs of £3.7 million. In his judgment, Mr Justice Davis said: "SGL (Serco Geografix Ltd) engaged in quite deliberate fraud against the Ministry of Justice in relation to the provision of services vital to the criminal justice system." During April 2021, the charged ex-directors of firm's subsidiary were cleared of fraud and false accounting, primarily due to
1020-497: The SFO having failed to disclose certain documents to the defense, resulting in issues that, according to the judge, "undermine the process of disclosure to the extent that the trial cannot safely and fairly proceed until they have been remedied". In July 2022, the company supplied food containing maggots to children in a hotel in the Midlands. Serco issued an apology and said it would visit
1071-628: The UK Government's contract for the maintenance of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System at RAF Fylingdales . The MoD extended Serco's contract in October 2022 for a further three years, under which the company provides maintenance, repair, and operational services for the radar in Yorkshire, England. Serco has contracts for the operation and maintenance of RAF Brize Norton , RAF Halton , RAF Northolt and RNAS Culdrose in
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#17328584884631122-831: The UK and RAF Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic. Serco provides support services to garrisons in Australia. Serco manages many aspects of operations at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham . Prior to June 2021, Serco was one of three partners in the consortium who managed the Atomic Weapons Establishment until it was taken over by the MoD: in July 2015, the Office for Nuclear Regulation issued an improvement notice to
1173-481: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 759311271 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:34:48 GMT Serco Serco Group plc is a British multinational defence , health , space , justice , migration , customer services , and transport company. It
1224-510: The clinical health services market in the UK after a review of the cost of delivering "improved service levels" and meeting the performance requirements of several existing contracts. During October 2017, it was reported that Serco was preparing to buy healthcare contracts from facilities management business Carillion . This deal included 15 contracts, with annual revenues of approximately £90 million, for which Serco would pay £47.7 million, with Carillion losing £1 billion from
1275-597: The community to better protect themselves against COVID-19 , as social distancing is not possible in the centre. In November 2023, a Serco employee was criminally charged during a corruption investigation into drug trafficking. An investigation into conditions in Australia’s privately run centres found detainees are openly growing marijuana plants in their rooms at Sydney’s Villawood detention centre, as Australian Border Force conceded drug and alcohol use have led to violent and dangerous conditions. Villawood Detention Centre
1326-539: The company and the United Kingdom government which overhauled the company's contract management and auditing processes. By 2019, Cabinet Office publicised that "the remedial actions taken in 2013-14 were sufficient with regard to this incidence of wrongdoing". During September 2017, Serco announced that it was in the process of combining its UK and Europe operations. John Rishton was appointed as Non-Executive Chairman in Spring 2021, succeeding Sir Roy Gardner who held
1377-462: The consortium demanding that it demonstrate that it has a long-term strategy for managing Higher Active radioactive Waste in order to reduce the risk to the public and its employees. Serco is a major subcontractor to Airbus Defence and Space on the Skynet military communications satellites under a private finance initiative (PFI) contract. Serco Marine Services is responsible for fleet support at
1428-586: The contract for out-of-hours GP services in Cornwall from which it withdrew in December 2013 after the company left the county short of doctors. Serco also stated that it would stop running Braintree hospital in Essex as it opted to pull out of managing GP services and large hospitals. In health services, Serco's failures include the poor handling of pathology labs and fatal errors in patient records. At St Thomas' Hospital ,
1479-717: The country at international airports and seaports may also be detained there. The centre has been the focus of much controversy, with accusations of human rights abuses. Since 2009 the centre has been managed by private prison company Serco . with the Australian Border Force , an agency of the Department of Home Affairs , responsible for the welfare of the detainees. 33°52′28″S 150°59′22″E / 33.874424°S 150.989571°E / -33.874424; 150.989571 Australian immigration detention facility Too Many Requests If you report this error to
1530-459: The government for its overcharging on the contract. In May 2014, a Survation poll for the campaign group We Own It , found that 63% of respondents thought Serco should be banned from bidding for any new public contracts after the firm was investigated for overcharging on government contracts. Serco runs four prisons, a Young Offenders Institution and a Secure Training Centre. It has operated two Immigration Removal Centres since 2007. Serco
1581-477: The hotel. In October 2024, Serco’s tracking devices and panic alarms on prison vans were disabled after a cyber attack. Allegedly, some Serco crews were unaware that vehicles were still being used to transport prisoners for three days after the attack despite continuing software faults. During August 2018, it was disclosed that Serco had been planning to evict asylum seekers in Glasgow before their appeal procedure
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1632-555: The increase in the number of clinical incidents arising from Serco non-clinical management has resulted in patients receiving incorrect and infected blood, as well as patients suffering kidney damage due to Serco providing incorrect data used for medical calculations. A Serco employee later revealed that the company had falsified 252 reports to the National Health Service regarding Serco health services in Cornwall. During November 2013, it emerged that Serco, which been awarded
1683-545: The infrastructure as dilapidated, and conditions inside the detention centre as "harsh and inhospitable". Early in the morning of Thursday 21 April 2011, the centre was set alight by detainees. In 2020 the centre adopted various measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia , but human rights organisations including HREOC have called upon the Australian Government to allow detainees to release detainees into
1734-414: The management, rather than being just an engineering and science company. For their MoD Radar contract at RAF Fylingdales , "the art, it turned out, was in running the people, not the radar." During 1984, RCA Services was awarded the Ministry of Defence's first outsourcing contract, under which it managed warehousing using the knowledge of staff who had completed similar work at RAF Flyingdales. Following
1785-517: The operational efficiencies it hoped for, despite stating in May 2013 that it expected to make a profit on the three-year, £140 million contract for community services. It said that staff had not recorded activity accurately on the Electronic health record and that activity had increased significantly during the course of the contract. In August 2014, the company had reportedly decided to withdraw from
1836-665: The position from May 2015. Rishton had been on the Board since September 2016. In August 2022, Serco announced that it would distribute £9 million in one-off payments to about 45,000 non-management staff as the firm lifted its profit guidance and dividend; this amount equated to around £200 for each of its 45,000 workers. In December 2023, Serco acquired European Homecare, a specialist provider of immigration services to public sector customers in Germany, for €40 million (£34 million). By 2004, Serco held numerous defence contracts, including
1887-542: The takeover of RCA by General Electric in late 1985, RCA Services Limited was bought out by its local management. During 1987, the firm changed its name to Serco ('Services Company') and became a London Stock Exchange listed company one year later. By 1990s, Serco had expanded from the United Kingdom and Europe, developing a global presence with major activities in Hong Kong , Australia, New Zealand, and North America . During December 2008, Serco acquired SI International,
1938-571: The three main UK naval bases, HMNB Portsmouth , HMNB Devonport and HMNB Clyde . In November 2022, the MoD awarded Serco a £200 million follow-on contract, lasting 27 months, to provide marine services for the Royal Navy . In London, Serco has operated the London Cycle Hire Scheme for Transport for London since it was first introduced in 2010. During December 2022, Serco signed
1989-513: The time stated it had fulfilled all its commitments on the contract. Serco was contracted to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to provide telephone advice on behalf of DWP to recipients of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI), which ended in April 2018. Prior to 2015, Serco managed the UK's National Physical Laboratory . It currently provides IT Services, Industrial Support and Cryogenic Operations Support and Maintenance at CERN . Serco
2040-405: The value of its order book. In May 2020, Serco accidentally shared the personal email addresses of nearly 300 trainee COVID-19 contact tracers . Between 2001 and 2011, Serco held a ten-year contract with Bradford City Council to manage and operate the local education authority , providing education support services to the city's schools. According to senior council officials, this period
2091-492: Was announced that Alastair Lyons , the chairman of Serco, was resigning from his position. Speaking at the time, Lyons referred to "operational mis-steps" for which he took "ultimate responsibility", but said he had not been forced out. In 2014, Serco incurred a loss of £991 million, which was followed by a smaller loss of £69.4 million in 2015. In response, Rupert Soames, Lyons's successor as chief executive, sold off "scores of divisions". Soames stated that Serco
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2142-542: Was awarded the contract to design, install, and maintain the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) Ballistic Missile Early Warning System , including ongoing facility management such as cleaning, transport, and logistical stores. In the 1980s, the European Space Agency contracted RCA Services to support and maintain computer systems and satellites. By the 1980s, RCA Services began to interpret their company product as
2193-494: Was closed during September 2021. Serco's Home Affairs division operates speed camera systems throughout the UK and, until November 2013, designed, wrote and tested the software that controls the matrix message signs, signals, emergency roadside telephones (SOS) and traffic monitoring on England's motorway network including, until 2011, the National Traffic Control Centre . Starting in 1997, Serco operated
2244-542: Was completed; the legality of such actions under Scottish law was questioned by lawyers. Serco confirmed that it was serving a notice of eviction on many tenants, causing alarm and lawyers challenged one asylum seeker's eviction at the Scottish Court of Session . Councillor Jennifer Layden, equalities and human rights convener for Glasgow, said, "The lock change announcement by the Home Office and Serco has caused widespread fear and alarm among asylum seekers in Glasgow. There
2295-484: Was converted into an immigration detention centre in 1976. The site of the detention centre was previously known as the Villawood Migrant Hostel or Villawood Migrant Centre, built in 1949 to house migrants from post-war Europe to work in local industries. The centre was run by Commonwealth Hostels Ltd, a non-profit company. By 1964 the centre housed 1,425 people, mainly from Britain and Europe . By 1969 it
2346-658: Was converted to provide security accommodation for persons awaiting deportation. This new section was named the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre. In 2001 the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre was the subject of controversy when 40 asylum seekers escaped. A month later, a Four Corners documentary, "The Inside Story", revealed the plight of six-year-old Iranian refugee Shayan Bedraie, who had been refusing to speak or eat. Shayan and his family had been detained at Woomera IRPC for 11 months and Villawood IDC for at least 6 months, and had witnessed
2397-515: Was marked with "real problems" and management was taken back in house by the local authority after the contract's end-date. Serco has operated similar management arrangements for both Walsall and Stoke-on-Trent local education authorities. By 2009, Serco was one of Ofsted 's three Regional Inspection Service Providers, being responsible for school inspections in the English Midlands. Serco Leisure Operating Ltd works with clients throughout
2448-541: Was part of a consortium that ran the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory under contract up until October 2013. In Britain, Serco supplies electronic tagging devices for offenders and asylum seekers . Serco, as well as its rival G4S , was accused of overcharging the Ministry of Justice on its contract to tag offenders. The firm issued a profit warning for 2014 as a result of the costs of becoming embroiled in an electronic tagging scandal. Serco repaid £68.5 million to
2499-466: Was restructured during the 1980s, reorientated itself towards services beyond engineering, and expanded its presence globally. Serco has encountered controversy, described by legal services firm Appleby as a "history of problems, failures, fatal errors and overcharging". During 2013, then-chairman Alastair Lyons resigned from the company after it was found that it had overcharged the UK Government for electronically monitoring criminals. Serco underwent
2550-465: Was suffering from ministers’ improved ability at driving a bargain, and claimed that "the Government has got much more adept at writing contracts and transferring risk to the private sector". Following an 8-year long investigation and trial, Serco's executives at the time were cleared of fraud charges in April 2021. Following the events of 2013, Serco underwent a Corporate Renewal Programme designed by
2601-474: Was the largest migrant hostel in Australia, and was at that time housing migrants from Britain, The Netherlands , Denmark , West Germany , France , Czechoslovakia , Yugoslavia and Turkey . In 1968 the centre was divided into two sections, one named the Villawood Migrant Hostel and the other named the Westbridge Migrant Hostel, which operated until 1984. In 1976 a small section of the hostel
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