Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga is still facing pressure over private prison operator Serco. Corrections chief executive Ray Smith, left, took over the running of Mt Eden prison in July.

The Corrections Minister is defending failings by private prison operator Serco and says dozens of performance notices are "reasonable".

Serco is facing more than $1 million in fines for its failings at Mt Eden Corrections facility, which Corrections took over in July while serious allegations of prisoner mistreatment are investigated.

Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga said Serco had been issued 55 performance notices in the last four years - seven of those fines totalling $275,000 were subsequently withdrawn.

'It's a number of notices clearly, some have been withdrawn, some mitigated," he said.

"Over four years, 55 is a reasonable amount of notices."



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The seven notices that were withdrawn were for performance issues including the unlawful detention of a prisoner, incident and contingency protocols, rates of serious assaults and compliance with parole board reports.

"Five notices were withdrawn because the required improvements were made, one was withdrawn because it was an error of the court not Serco and one was a duplicate of a previous notice," Lotu-Iiga told the House.

Serco was also issued with $100,000 of fines in the last year for giving prisoners razors and forgetting to take them back - while that notice was upheld the fine was deducted.

Corrections worked with Serco to address the concerns and while "Serco was held to account, they've rectified the issues and put in place a regime that met the department's expectation," Lotu-Iiga told the House.

As a result the fine was deducted, not withdrawn, he said.

Lotu-Iiga said upholding a performance notice but not fining Serco was perfectly acceptable and reflected the contract, which "allows Serco to address the issues raised".

"I don't, as the Minister, stipulate what is in that contract and it is there for both parties to meet the terms of that contract."