Kent Police contracted G4s to provide back office staff

by political editor Paul Francis

Kent Police has spent £768,000 over five years on contracts with the company behind the security failings at the Olympics, it has emerged.

The force contracted G4S to provide temporary staff for various jobs between 2007 and 2011 at a cost of £767,846 - but has since stopped using the company and instead has a contract with a different recruitment company, Reed.

It is thought G4S was contracted chiefly for administrative - so-called 'back office' - jobs in areas such as IT and personnel.

The disclosure has triggered a row between two candidates vying to become Kent's first-elected police commissioner later this year.

Conservative hopeful Craig Mackinlay launched a stinging attack on his rival Ann Barnes, the former chairman of Kent Police Authority.

One of the key planks of her campaign has been based on her opposition to the back-door privatisation of the force.

Announcing her campaign last month, she said she wanted to "stop the swing to G4S privatisation" and warned: "We could so easily see private firms like G4S patrolling out streets".

Mr Mackinlay said Mrs Barnes was disingenuous: "As Kent Police Authority chair over the past six years, Ann Barnes has obviously been comfortable that vast sums of public money were spent on G4S. Now she is standing for election, she feels the need to speak against privatisation."

On his website, he wrote: "I don't like negative campaigning but when statements are made by candidates that clearly do not square with the facts, questions must be asked."

Mrs Barnes hit back, saying: "If this is some attempt to get me involved in the 'mud slinging' and yaboo antics of party politics it will fail. I will not do it.

"I am intent on fighting a positive campaign on my own messages. I will leave it to the people of Kent to decide who to trust in this election - myself as a strong independent candidate, or a party politician who is already trying to mire the campaign in the old fashioned party politics that has turned people off in their droves.

"The only privatisation aspect is that a private company ferries prisoners between custody suites and courts as is routine across the country."G4S is one of the largest security companies in the world, with more than 650,000 staff working in 125 countries.

It had to apologise after failing to meet a commitment to provide enough security staff for the Olympics.

According to figures released by Kent Police under the Freedom of Information Act, the force spent most money with G4S in 2008-09, when it was paid £509,705.