Private contractor Serco has confirmed it will bid for a fresh prisoner transport contract with the West Australian government and also defended its performance at an inquiry.
Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis told parliament on Tuesday that Serco's contract would not be extended when it ends on June 30 next year.
At a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday into the transport of people in custody, Serco justice and health managing director Paul Mahoney nodded when asked if the company would compete in the tender process for the new contract.
The inquiry heard from the WA Police Union, which was critical of the Serco contract, saying there were gaps in it.
The union said Serco did not provide the transport service "either adequately or at all" at some regional police station lock-ups, and also within the metropolitan area, notably Rockingham.
The times it did provide the service were restricted, and it "really pushed the time frames" or did not always meet the target to clear lock-ups within 24 hours, WAPU said.
But Serco contract director Abbie Kajee defended regional staff, saying they had to be flexible and performed a variety of roles. Sometimes, no staff were available to perform a task as they were busy with other duties.
And if police were "not quick enough in doing what they're doing, that may cause delays," he said.
Serco deputy managing director Andrew Beck said the company achieved more than 99 per cent success against key performance indicators and could only do what it was contracted to do.
"Sometimes there's a gap between the contract and expectation," he said.
Mr Beck also responded to a question about late delivery of prisoners to court, saying there were often delays with processing at the jail, but efforts were underway to improve that.
Mr Mahoney also said the private contractor was generally 20 per cent cheaper than the public sector alternative.
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