TAXPAYERS are set to pay millions to former Carillion workers made redundant following the firm’s collapse in January, according to construction union Unite.
A freedom of information request made by Unite to the Insolvency Service revealed that the Redundancy Payments Office (RPO) has made “substantial” payments to former Carillion staff.
The response stated, “The total amount we may pay out is approximately £65 million, of which £50 million has been paid so far based on actual claims received.”
With Carillion collapsing into compulsory administration, most of the firm’s 19,000 staff were made redundant, entitling them to claim for redundancy from the RPO.
Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail, speaking at the recent Labour party conference, said, “These latest figures demonstrate that the taxpayers have had to pick up the tab for the greed and recklessness which led to Carillion’s collapse.
“While the directors and senior executives of Carillion have largely slithered off into lucrative new roles it is the taxpayers who have been left to pick up the pieces from their mess.”
She continued, “These revelations further underline why the government must order a full public inquiry into Carillion’s collapse to not only understand who was responsible for the greatest corporate failure in UK history but also the total cost to the taxpayer.
“Additionally, the police need to undertake an immediate criminal investigation into those responsible for Carillion’s collapse. If no laws were broken then we need better stronger laws to prosecute the guilty.”
