Outsourced, Inspected, and Effective? The Effect of Inspections on the Safety Performance of Prisons in England and Wales 2004–2012

Abstract

While outsourcing of public services is today widespread, maintaining their quality remains a challenge. External inspections are seen as essential for overseeing private providers, yet their effectiveness has not been thoroughly investigated. This study evaluates the impact of pre-scheduled inspections on the performance of private and publicly operated prisons in England and Wales between 2004 and 2012, focusing on two key safety indicators: self-harm and violence. Our findings reveal that private prisons' performance in these safety measures was weak, and that pre-scheduled predictable inspections are not effective enough to mitigate this weakness. The findings suggest that governments should consider areas where outsourcing may be inappropriate, and how existing inspection systems can be optimized.