“Ministers were accused of pretending that Carillion is “no longer their problem” almost 600 days after the collapse of the outsourcing business.
Unite, the trade union, claimed that Whitehall has adopted a “business as normal approach” after the government contractor’s failure, which led to thousands of job losses and delays to key public projects.
It complained that no action has been taken against the company’s former directors as several regulatory investigations continue.
Carillion was a construction and public services giant with an annual turnover of £3.5 billion. It went bust in January 2018, leaving £1 billion of debts and pension liabilities of £2.6 billion. About 3,000 staff lost their jobs and thousands more were transferred to new suppliers and contractors.
Two of its big contracts, the Royal Liverpool and Midland Metropolitan hospitals, remain “years away” from completion, Unite said.
The Official Receiver is trying to determine whether any criminal wrongdoing by those in charge of Carillion led to its collapse. The Financial Reporting Council is examining the accuracy of its auditing processes.
Gail Cartmail, Unite’s assistant general secretary, said it was “totally apparent” that ministers had “failed to learn any lessons from this debacle”.
“Hospital projects are years away from being completed. Meanwhile patients and staff have been left to struggle on in facilities that are no longer fit for purpose.” She added that ministers had “washed their hands of the whole mess”.
A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said:
“We continue to support and fund the NHS Trusts in Liverpool and Birmingham to bring forward their hospital projects as quickly as possible, while making every penny of taxpayers money count.”
East Devon Watch 