Shambolic Serco: Not A Penny More

The Coronavirus crisis has been a thoroughly miserable ordeal for most of us.

This time last year you could hug your nan without wondering if you’d infect her with a killer virus. You could pop down the pub, catch up with your friends, and it didn’t matter if there were 10 of you gathered around a couple of tables.


You could bury your loved ones without wondering which family members would have to stay away from saying a final goodbye. 


In that time, we’ve had a general election, and we tragically ended up with a dysfunctional, incapable Prime Minister. He only had one job. He was elected to “Get Brexit Done”, remember? 


The Brexit negotiations have been a humiliation for Britain. No deal has always been Johnson’s favoured outcome, because his multi-millionaire and billionaire backers will make the sort of money that could pay for meal vouchers for every child during the pandemic, several times over, overnight. 


That Labour Brexit deal, involving a Customs Union and close alignment to the Single Market, doesn’t look so bad now, when you look where Johnson has taken us. 


But Sir Keir betrayed the 2017 manifesto, the Labour leadership, and millions of Labour voters when he realised that steering Labour down the all-out Remain path would dispose of Jeremy Corbyn at the following election, and elevate him to a position where he can lead the party just to demand his MPs abstain on a vote that gives pre-agreed immunity to Spycops, even if they rape, torture, and murder. Human rights barrister you say? The man is a fucking disgrace to the Labour movement.

Yeah, I am still angry, and you should be too. 


2020 has been devastating. Tens of thousands have needlessly died, and we know that many more will tragically lose their lives to this merciless virus. 


We’ve had a government that has failed so many times you begin to wonder if they are doing it on purpose, and an opposition party that has political giants like Wes Streeting in a senior shadow cabinet position that really should be filled by a grown up. Streeting would be over-promoted if he was a paperclip auditor.


But it’s not been a miserable time for everyone, particularly if you’re a business with links to the Conservative Party, and if your company name is “Serco”, you’re on to a multi-million Pound winner - even if you have a track record of abysmal failure. 


If Chris Grayling was a business, he would be Serco. 

Just this week, Serco announced it expects profits to exceed expectations this year, thanks to coronavirus-related work. 


Aren’t you absolutely fucking thrilled for them? 


The company said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange that it expects a trading profit, before any one-off costs, of between £160 million and £165 million, compared with previous estimates of £135 million to £150 million, and excess profits could be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends. 


Yippee! 


Serco’s revenue for the year is expected to be around £3.9 billion - up from a predicted £3.7 billion. 


Data was released on Thursday showing in the week to 7 October, SERCO Test and Trace managed to reach only 62.6% of people who have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus. That’s more than a third that haven’t been contacted, and this figure is falling as the number of positive cases increases. 


When you compare this to local public health teams,and you realise they managed to reach 97.7% of identified contacts in the same period, you do have to wonder if Serco are providing you with an adequate service, and whether the tax payer is getting value for money. 


I would suggest Serco is an absolute shambles that quite clearly couldn’t organise a two-ticket raffle. 

Is it right that anyone should profit from test and trace? Is it right Serco profit from prolific failure? 


Of course it’s not right. Involving the private sector, from the start of the Coronavirus crisis, has been a massive mistake. 


Why are Serco shareholders rubbing their hands with glee while the British people pick up the bill for Serco’s grotesque failure? It’s simply not on.


Serco has faced a barrage of justified criticism since it ‘won’ an initial three-month contract to provide test sites and call handlers back in May. The contract was awarded without a competitive tendering process.


Despite their multiple shortcomings, the government have awarded an extension to Serco’s contract to provide test sites and call handlers. 


Serco bosses claimed the extension, that was handed to them on a plate, was "an indication of our customer's satisfaction with the quality of work we have delivered". 


They’re taking the piss, right? 


Serco has been failing for a long time. They have also faced past allegations of fraud, the cover-up of the abuse of detainees, and the mishandling of radioactive waste. 


Back in May, Serco accidentally shared the email addresses of hundreds of contact tracers, which was a clear data breach. One member of staff has reported the incident to the Information Commissioners Office, after Serco decided not to refer itself. 

They cannot even send a simple email without screwing up, yet we are trusting them with the only tool that we have to guide us through the Coronavirus crisis, until a vaccine is developed - and there is still no guarantee of that even happening? Give me strength. 


I find this rather worrying. Giving contracts to failing companies, without a tendering process is one thing, rewarding them so handsomely for this failure is another thing altogether. 


The government’s obsession with the private sector is costly, ineffective and plain fucking dangerous. They have cynically used the Coronavirus crisis to accelerate the profits of their friends and donors, with next to no accountability, and it will be you that pays for it. 


Serco should not receive another penny of your money, and they should not receive any further public service contracts. 

The Serco shareholders will undoubtedly have a very Merry Christmas. The government has awarded them with hundreds of millions of Pounds this year alone. So not only do you pay for this monstrosity with your taxes, you also pay for their failure with your wellbeing. 


Test and trace must be handed over to local authorities, and the government must fund them sufficiently. This shouldn’t even be up for debate, but the Tories private sector obsession is rooted in most of our public services, and as every contract is handed over to the Virgincare’s, the Deloitte’s and the Serco’s of this works, that debate becomes even harder to have. 


All I can say for Serco is not another penny, and not another contract. Enough really is enough. 


Enjoy your day folks. 


Rachael



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