A SLA sets out the arrangements under which the YJB purchases secure accommodation for juveniles from the Prison Service. In most cases, the Prison Service provides this accommodation directly. At Ashfield, the Prison Service effectively sub-contracts the provision of juvenile accommodation to a private contractor, Premier. The relationships between the Prison Service, the Youth Justice Board and Premier, and the mechanisms in place to facilitate them, are therefore very important.
The YJB funds the JOMG of the Prison Service through a payment mechanism which involves two elements: a block payment for a total number of places available and an additional payment for each night each place is occupied. Under the contract between the Prison Service and Premier, the contractor is paid on the basis of available prison places rather than the number of places that are actually occupied. However, the YJB was established after the contract with Premier was signed.
The SLA sets out standards for juvenile facilities. The contract between the Prison Service and Premier contains basic standards to be met and a performance measurement system linked to the payment mechanism. There are inconsistencies between the SLA and the Prison Service/Premier contract. The standards in the SLA are based on input measures whereas the contract performance measurement system is based on outputs. For example, at the time of our study, the SLA specified that on the wing for new prisoners there should be two staff on duty at night, whereas the Ashfield contract did not.34 Therefore, the YJB paid the Prison Service for places to be provided to a standard which was not required under the Prison Service's contract with Premier. The YJB use input-based standards in order to ensure that they contract and account for the use of their funds.
The monitoring arrangements are also complex. The YJB monitors Ashfield under its SLA with the Prison Service but the Prison Service contract with Premier makes no reference to the remit and responsibilities of the YJB. Therefore, although the contractor's performance at Ashfield is monitored regularly by both the Prison Service and the YJB, the two bodies assess performance under different arrangements and against different standards.
The YJB deals with the operational part of the Prison Service. However, up until March 2003, the Contracts and Procurement Unit of the Prison Service was responsible for the contract and its monitoring. There was no governance system in place which covered the different parts of the Prison Service, the YJB and Premier. The problems with regulation and control were a contributory factor to the poor quality of the service provided by Premier. The creation of the Commissioner for Correctional Services seeks to address this weakness (Figure 2).
In August 2002 Premier suggested the setting up of a Joint Management Board which brought together the various stakeholders to seek consensus and allow Ashfield's senior management to deliver improvements. It met on two occasions during November and December 2002.
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34 This is one of a number of inconsistencies that has since been addressed by an amendment to the contract bringing it in line with the SLA.