Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

World Service,19 Aug 2017,26 mins

Private Prisons: Who Profits?

Global Business

Available for over a year

Twenty five years after Britain opened its first privately run prison, Matthew Gwyther explores whether private jails in the UK have delivered on the promise of a cost effective, safe, and reliable service. And he looks to the US, the pioneer of the private prison system. Does incarcerating people for profit work? Or does it lead the sector to cut corners, sacrificing safety and security in the pursuit of profit? Producer: Sarah Shebbeare (Photo: A prison guard walks through a cell area. Credit: Getty Images)

Programme Website
More episodes