These risk assessments could be the next major embarrassment for the government.
Labour won an opposition day motion last night forcing the government to reveal the risks associated with outsourcing firms – and given the financial mess Carillion were in when awarded new contracts, we might be about to see further Tory negligence exposed.
Labour won a vote in Parliament yesterday forcing the Government to release outsourcing companies’ risk assessments to the House Public Accounts Committee, which in turn will release the information into the public domain.
And this isn’t just about Carillion : we may be about to see a whole trove of information showing government negligence over the risks associated with several outsourcing firms released into the public domain.
So, from the risk assessments what can we expect to learn about the companies the government has been outsourcing our public services to?
Jon Trickett, Labour shadow cabinet office minister tweeted last night that some of the companies lined up to replace Carillion, for example, were associated with:
- Accusations of slavery
- Tax evasion
- Blacklisting
- Investigated for bribery
- Mispricing
Mr Trickett told the House of Commons:
“My reaction to that, and I don’t know if it’s unparliamentary or not, is to use three letters: WTF”
Given the government knew Carillion were in dire financial trouble when re-awarding contracts, it will be little surprise to find similarly shocking oversights of outsourcing firms with the release of these risk assessments.
Rebecca Long Bailey MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, commenting on the outcome of the Opposition Day Debate on outsourcing and Carillion, said:
“Today’s vote forces the Government to reveal the risks to the taxpayer and the public as a direct result of outsourcing crucial public services to just a few big companies.
“The Government has consistently point-blank refused to give any clear details about its contingency plans for Carillion’s collapse, which has directly endangered 20,000 UK Carillion employees, thousands of pension holders, and more then 30,000 businesses in its supply chain.
“Labour is calling for the will of the House to be respected with the immediate release of risk assessments and improvement plans to the public accounts committee as soon as possible.”
Cabinet Office minister David Lidington confirmed the Government would release the risk assessments but that commercially sensitive information would be redacted.
But it’s so far unclear when this will happen, Labour MP Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, saying yesterday: “As yet we do not know when the committee will receive this information, nor any details of its contents.”
These risk assessments could be the next major embarrassment for the government, Labour and the Public Accounts Committee must keep up the pressure to get them released.
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers and to make the biggest impact we can in the next general election, we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 124 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.
5 Responses to “Watch out: Labour just forced the Tories to reveal these potentially explosive outsourcing papers”
NMac
I fully expect this corrupt Tory government to wriggle and squirm out of being forced to reveal the full extent of their sordid dealings with Carillion. Possibly all they will reveal will be pages of redactions.
Das
This wicked government that’s so vile it squanders the taxes while filling their pickets and tells the low paid and the vulnerable to f**k off when they ask for the help they need.
They and their supporters should be ashamed, but I doubt it.
Probably laughing all the way to their banks.
Alasdair Macdonald
I suspect that if they are released, and I hae ma doots, that they will be heavily redacted on the basis of ‘commercial confidentiality’.
While this is a good thing for Labour to have achieved, it still has to confront the culpability of Bodger Broon. He is the treasure trove that keeps on giving to the Tories in terms of propaganda. They pour contempt on him, but when he was being mendacious about Scotland, he was ‘A STATESMAN’.
patrick newman
Dont hold your breath. We may be told that they don’t exist – in the spirit of D. Davis! It is about time Labour stated that “commercial in confidence” is no longer a valid reason for withholding information on public services or developments provided by the private sector and they will legislate. The latter will just have to live with it as no one is forcing them to bid.
Das
Perhaps they could arrange a convenient burglary of the documents which unfortunately were left in black bin bags behind the fire escape for safekeeping.