G4S aware of recruitment issues six months ago
A G4S whistleblower tells Channel 4 News that management at a vetting centre were aware six months ago it would not meet recruitment targets it was set to provide security at the Olympics.
The former G4S screening and vetting centre employee said the company knew back in January that there would be serious problems reaching the new level of 10,000 Olympic security staff – a figure revised up from 2,000 by London 2012 organisers Locog in December.
Channel 4 News understands the 12 Olympic venue police forces are now drawing up contingency plans because they cannot trust G4S to meet recruitment and security targets. They are worried deadlines may be missed for securing venues before handing them over to the Games organisers.
The whistleblower told Channel 4 News that as a result of attempting to process so many applications the company cut corners to get work done at the start of the year..
“There were concerns even then that G4S would not get the quota that they were meant to,” he told Channel 4 News. “No specific numbers were shared. There were some concerns – you could tell there was a bit of a panic, but they didn’t want to give too much away.”
Employees were put under pressure to process applications quickly, potentially putting security at risk, he said.
“That’s all they were interested in – how many numbers you got,” he said. “They asked by the hour, ‘why haven’t you achieved this, why haven’t you achieved that?’ It was unbearable.”
The allegations come as David Cameron said that companies which do not deliver on their contracts with government “should be pursued for that money”. The government has called in 3,500 military troops to fill the staffing gap in Olympic security because of G4S’s failure to deploy the numbers it promised.
Read more: G4S Olympics employees tell Channel 4 News of a shambolic recruitment process
G4S has not yet responded to the whistleblower’s allegations. However in a statement yesterday, the company said the deployment was “unprecedented and very complex” and was being carried out to a tight schedule.
“We have encountered some delays in progressing applicants through the final stages but we are working extremely hard to process these as swiftly as possible,” G4S. said.
Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales said that employing inexperienced staff at short notice was in itself a security risk.
“If you’re employing a police officer, we’re vetted to a high standard already. You’re not having to start from scratch,” he told Channel 4 News. “You don’t just rustle up a few people and say – you’re responsible for terrorism at the Olympics.”
Locog‘s contract with G4S to provide 10,000 security staff at Olympic sites is worth an estimated £284m. But financial analysts said that over £200m has been wiped off the value of the company since the staffing problems emerged.
However the implication of the company’s failure to meet their contract has impacted their wider business, with Surrey Police suspending its plans for the privatisation of some services through G4S. The company running a Lincolnshire police station in April, and last year started running a Birmingham prison.
Mr McKeever added that using a private company for any security work raises accountability issues. “If you’re an employee or manager, you’re first of all accountable to board of directors, rather than the public,” he told Channel 4 News. “I’m sure if it was a police service that had failed, there would be some excoriating criticism of us.”
Soldiers forced to cancel leave
Meanwhile some army members have been forced to cancel leave at short to support the Olympic security effort.
“It’s caused no end of fun in my unit. The 120 already pinged to go have been topped up by a further 120 who had leave plans,” said ‘Greengrass’ on the online forum for soliders, The Army Rumour Service (ARRSE) “I have just finished the week long training course provided by G4S – it was terrible.”
Another soldier complained of having to pay £170 to come home from Germany at short notice “and they still dont have a clue what is going on”. He added: “If I do get released I will have to re book the flight costing £300 to get home, do the idiots up stairs realise how much this is costing your everyday tom?”
At a public accounts committee hearing on Olympic costs in May, Liberal Democrat MP, Ian Swales criticised the amount of money made by G4S in its Olympic contract: “I feel like issuing a press release to say “The first winner of Olympic gold in 2012 is G4S.” It feels as if there is a massive profit margin; it is public money.”
