Corrections

Description

Background and history

Correctional services are an important part of New Zealand's judicial system. These services are provided, in part, in the 20 prisons around the country.

All prisons in New Zealand are currently owned and operated by the Department of Corrections. Auckland Central Remand Prison was opened under private management (GEO Group) in 2000, but management was returned to the Department in 2005.

Assets

Corrections' physical assets at 30 June 2009 had a net book value of $1.9 billion, of which $1.6 billion was classified as non-residential buildings.[138]

Fifty three per cent of cells are high-security and 47% low-security.[139]

The Government currently owns and operates all 20 prisons. However, the law was recently amended to allow privately operated prisons. The Government has announced that it is considering a public private partnership as one option to provide a new prison.

The following diagram shows the geographical locations, by region, of prisons.

Figure 58: Geographical locations of prisons

Source: www.corrections.govt.nz

Funding and pricing

Vote Corrections' operating expenses in 2009/10 are budgeted at $1.1 billion. Approximately $713 million of that has been budgeted to fund the custody of prisoners.

Planning

There are two main drivers behind the need for new prison beds: growth in demand and the replacement of obsolete beds.

Growth in demand is based on an eight-year prison population forecast which is revised annually. The 2009-2017 Criminal Justice Forecast (“the forecast”) predicts that, under current policy settings, the prison population will continue to grow over the next eight years.

Analysis

The forecast is driven by crime rates, policing policy, prosecution and resolution rates, court processing rates, sentencing and the proportion of sentence served.

The Department of Corrections is responding to the changes in demand by thinking creatively about alternative ways of solving problems and delivering services to counter capacity issues. The Government is considering both policy and construction options to address the forecast growth in the prison population. The number of new prison beds needed will depend on the policy options chosen.

The Government provided some funding for prison construction in Budget 2009 (for double bunking and further design/planning work). Corrections' current estimates are that it may need to spend up to $915 million in capital over the next 10 years, and an additional $150 million in operating per annum by 2018/19 to meet demand and replace obsolete capacity.[140]