Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

On a financial level, this increasing prisoner population has notable
implications. In 2009/10, the cost of imprisoning a person for one day was
$249.14 (increased from $155.68 per day in 2003/04); this results in an
annual cost of $90,936 2 (Department of Corrections, 2008b, 2010b). The
Treasury (2010) estimated that, during 2010-2011, Corrections would spend
over $750mn on the detention of sentenced and remand prisoners. Treasury
also warned that the growing prison population could cost up to $1.566bn
over the next nine years (Gower, 2009). In 2009, Corrections were provided
with $145.8mn to implement further double-bunking; $255.4mn to cover
operational costs (such as employing more frontline staff, and providing more
programmes, food, bedding, clothing, healthcare and transportation); and
$24mn to expand prison capacity (Department of Corrections, 2009a). While
these are, undoubtedly, sizeable sums – particularly when compared to
community-based sentences – the Department is operating under financial
restraint.
The Department of Corrections (2008:22) detail that this expansion is
dovetailed with the need to renovate a „significant proportion‟ of the prison
estate as certain „facilities can no longer be regarded as fit for purpose, with
some being at risk of non-compliance with relevant building standards‟. This
expansion also impacts on the range of facilities required within the prisons –
such as receiving offices, prisoner health units or at-risk units. As the
Department (ibid) further noted, „At some prisons such facilities are already
inadequate, relative to the total number of prisoners on the site‟.
3.3 The Re-introduction of Private Prisons
Concerns about rising costs, in the face of increased prisoner populations, are
among the reasons leading to the reintroduction of private enterprise in prison
management. The Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons)
Amendment Act 2009 enables prison management to be contracted to private
parties. In the 2010/11 financial round, it is estimated that $12.9mn will be
dedicated to prepare for and manage contracts for private prisons (The
Treasury, 2010). Related prison construction, between 2009 and 2018, is
expected to cost over $1.5bn.
Thus far, two main sites will be contracted out. These will be the new prison
at Wiri (a 1,000 bed male prison that is expected to be operational by 2014)
and the redeveloped Mount Eden/Auckland Central Remand Prison. In the
latter case, two new accommodation buildings, one being eight storeys high,
opened in March 2011 and the prison is run by Serco.
The application of a business model to the running of prisons has been the
subject of much debate, not least because it raises a major ethical question –
to what extent should private companies profit from the pains of
imprisonment? In the USA, UK and Australia, a number of firms – such as
2 This is compared to the costs of a community-based offender. In 2007/08, the daily cost of
community-based sentences was $10.04 (increased from $8.65 in 2003/04). This results in
an annual cost of $3,664 (Department of Corrections, 2008b).
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