News story: Carillion: what’s happening now

We know that this is a troubling time for Carillion’s workers and businesses that were in Carillion’s supply chain.

The government’s priority is to make sure all public services Carillion provided continue to run smoothly. We have put our plans into action to ensure all public sector services continue unaffected. No major disruptions have been reported and we will continue to monitor the situation. We will continue to pay workers on public sector contracts.

Financial support for businesses

HMRC will provide practical advice and guidance to those affected through its Business Payment Support Service (BPSS). The BPSS connects businesses with HMRC staff who can offer practical help and advice on a wide range of tax problems, providing a fast and sympathetic route to agreeing the best way forward and addressing immediate concerns with practical solutions.

Working with banks to help small businesses

Business Secretary Greg Clark, Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen, and Small Business Minister Andrew Griffiths, met banks on 17 January 2018 to seek assurances that they will support small businesses affected by Carillion’s liquidation.

Lenders are contacting customers and, where appropriate, are putting in place emergency measures, including overdraft extensions, payment holidays and fee waivers to ensure those facing short term issues can be helped to stay on track.

This ensured small businesses exposed to the liquidation of Carillion are given the support they need.

Minimising disruption to apprentices’ training programmes

We are committed to funding every apprentice that has already started their apprenticeship programme through to its completion. We have taken steps to protect learners by transferring the training of Carillion apprentices to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), and we are grateful to CITB for helping us ensure learners can continue to gain the skills they need.

We will continue to work closely with the CITB to support apprentices to remain in existing placements or to find new employment with other local organisations so they can complete their training.

Pensions

For those already receiving their pension, you will continue to be paid.

We know that some people will be concerned about their pensions, so if you need free and impartial advice we would recommend that you call The Pensions Advisory Service on 0300 123 1047.

We’ve also set up a special additional helpline with the Pensions Advisory Service for members of Carillion’s pension schemes: 0800 7561012.

Keeping public services running

Our primary responsibility has always been keep our essential public services running safely. Government is providing the necessary funding required by the Official Receiver to maintain public services. Staff that are engaged on public sector contracts continue to come to work and will continue to be paid.

Worried about your job?

JobCentre Plus, through its Rapid Response Service, stands ready to support any employee affected by this announcement.

Support could include:

• helping people facing redundancy to write CVs and find jobs
• providing general information about benefits
• helping people to find the right training and learn new skills
• helping with costs like travel to work expenses.