Liverpool Metro Mayor: ‘Something fundamentally wrong’ with Carillion collapse

Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has called on the Government to provide ‘clear answers’ to the imminent ripple effect of construction giant Carillion’s liquidation.

Responding to this morning’s headlines, Mr Rotheram said: “There is something fundamentally wrong when a company of this size, with a number of significant contracts awarded by national government, ends up in this position.

“We need to understand what went wrong and how to learn from it.”

Speaking further, the Metro Mayor said the collapse “raises some very difficult questions” around what happens to the “many publically funded contracts […] that it will now be unable to honour”.

Such contracts include construction of the new Royal Liverpool Hospital and elements of the HS2 rail project.

Mr Rotheram continued: “There are also serious concerns over the future of all those people currently working for Carillion and around what will happen to its pension fund.”

It is understood that the jobs of almost 20,000 people in the UK are at now at risk.

The Metro Mayor added: “As a matter of urgency the government needs to provide clear answers to all these questions.”