Privatisation has been a hugely successful policy over the past 30 years. Unfortunately, though, the government seems to have learned the wrong lesson from it. The proposal to sell the Courts Service’s buildings, and transfer some of its staff to the private sector, promises to bring out the worst aspects of the policy: it gives a desperate government a chance to raise cash in a hurry, relieving the taxpayer of assets at a knockdown price.
Meanwhile, it does nothing to replicate what has been good about privatisation: that it has opened up lazy state monopolies to competition.
Claims that the measure will save the public purse £1 billion a year should be taken with a pinch of salt. Similar claims were made when the NHS handed over hospitals to private finance consortia. What happened was that NHS Trusts signed lengthy, inflexible contracts, which enable private interests to profit hugely when, inevitably, the requirements of the NHS change.
The real enemy is monopoly — whether it comes in public or private form. Any organisation that knows it can take its customer for granted is likely to gravitate towards complacency, regardless of who owns it. Given that the government is unlikely to want to open the courts to competition, giving criminals a choice where they can be tried, it is hard to see what is going to be achieved.
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