Privatising prisons does not lead to immediate benefits in terms of cost savings or quality improvements, junior justice minister Fred Teeven said on Wednesday during a visit to Britain, where some 10% of prisons are in private hands.

The minister said privatisation appeared to work best in new prisons, but that this was irrelevant in the Netherlands because of falling prisoner numbers, the Volkskrant quoted him as saying.
The government’s coalition agreement includes a proviso to look into prison privatisation.