To provide the full listing requested would require a review of all the individual cases, which could be carried out only at a disproportionate cost. However information on special payments cases is kept at a summary level and this is shown in the following table.
Description Number of cases paid Value of cases paid (£) Prisoner Extended detention 102 239,607 Damaged property 270 14.236 Death in custody 11 108.815 Injury 255 2,176.941 Lost property 2,103 120.397 Other1 210 662.421 2,951 3,322,417 Staff Damaged property 158 10,486 Injury 802 8,021,630 Hostage 3 315,738 Lost property 39 13,843 Other1 180 1,036,776 Tribunals 80 1,206,485 1,262 10,604,958 Third parties Damaged property 17 17,671 Death in custody 8 258,670 Injury 46 294,494 Lost property 28 8.678 Other 47 34,075 Tribunals 2 22,710 148 636,297 4,361 14,563,672 1 The ‘Other’ cases accounting for £1.7 million in 2007-08 have very varied descriptions and do not sit easily under any one particular category, for example these include: Prisoners—disputes over categorisation and, breach of Human Rights cases; Staff—bank charges following non-payment of salary, termination of employment; and compensation for adverse job references; Third parties—‘Agency’ staff dismissal, cancellation of family or solicitor visits and disputes over length of use of hire equipment.
During the period 2007-08, the Prison Service encountered a number of system failures in the processing of invoices. This resulted in peak of 58,000 remaining unpaid. Of the £198,000 paid during 2007-08, £177,000 relates to three suppliers, two of which are food suppliers. The main three are:
£117,011 for NH Case Ltd.: for the period November 2002 to March 2008 and in the main relate to invoices held due to price variations between the price at purchase and the price at the time of supply or failure to register the goods received in a timely manner;
£52,150 DBC Food Ltd.: not specifically an invoice but a late payment interest settlement figure calculated as part of a contract settlement amount when ending a contract with the Prison Service; and
£8,365 EDF Energy Ltd.: an amount agreed between the Prison Service and the supplier to cover late payments made by a number of prisons.
The remainder is made up of various other small amounts which are unable to be detailed in the time available to answer this question.
To alleviate some of the issues being experienced with supplier payments, an emergency team was formed that worked to clear all invoices in back log. The Prison Service now has invoices taking on average two days to process from receipt. A new procurement strategy will be rolled out in April 2009 which should result in an improved buying power and supplier relationship.