Interserve – Another Carillion?

FINANCIALLY troubled outsourcing giant Interserve could be ‘Carillion Mark Two’ according to the union Unite.

Unite, which has 1,200 members working at Interserve, called on ministers to say what their contingency plans were in the event that the company was unable to restructure its debt-laden finances.

The union has questioned the wisdom of reacting to Interserve’s perilous financial position by offering the company more public contracts, repeating the mistakes made with Carillion and, again, potentially risking taxpayer money.

Another Carillion?

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said, “The mistakes made before the collapse of Carillon in January 2018 appear in danger of being repeated – if so, this could see the hard-pressed taxpayer picking up the tab – yet again.

“We want to know from ministers what contingency plans are in place should Interserve be unable to restructure its debt-laden finances.

“We would support a temporary ban on Interserve bidding for public sector contracts, while it attempts to resolve its financial problems.

“The moral is that public services should be provided by the public sector, as the record of these outsourcing behemoths has been woeful – it has been proven to be the road to nowhere.

“Unite has called for a public inquiry into the Carillion debacle and today we would ask that such an inquiry should embrace the events leading up to present situation at Interserve.

“Unite has 1,200 members working across Interserve. We will be monitoring developments very closely and be giving our members maximum support in the coming days.”

“Another classic example of the government’s unhealthy obsession with outsourcing is the fate of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) firefighters, vital to the UK’s national security.

“In the summer, the MoD firefighters’ contract was awarded to Capita, despite the company’s financial problems, but this was subsequently challenged by rival outsourcer Serco – and this has yet to be resolved.

“You could not make this up when most reasonable people would agree that such an important service as MoD firefighters should be under government control.”

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