Cabinet minister says figure could go up further

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Government has committed 拢150m to fund the liquidation of Carillion, it has been revealed.

Speaking at a liaison select committee meeting yesterday, cabinet office minister David Lidington said  the official receiver had been granted 拢150m of public funds to run Carillion鈥檚 liquidation.

Lidington said: 鈥淲hat the Committee will see if they have not already is that a supplementary estimate has been laid before the House today, which provides 拢150m to support the work of the official receiver.鈥�

But Lidington said the sum was 鈥渘ot a definite cost to the public purse as a consequence of Carillion鈥檚 failure鈥�.

He added: 鈥淲hat it is is the wherewithal, the working capital for the official receiver to go about his duties. Clearly what any net figure will be depends in significant measure on the price that the official receiver is able to obtain from some of the contracts that he will be looking to dispose of to other companies.

鈥淲hereas Carillion overall has gone into liquidation, there are some elements of that business that certainly would seem to be viable, and where there would be going concerns that could be transferred for a price.鈥�

Chief executive of the civil service John Manzoni agreed the final cost to the taxpayer could move depending how much the receiver managed to claw back from selling Carillion鈥檚 contracts.

Lidington also confirmed while it was not footing the bill to bail out Carillion subcontractors, it had helped secure assistance for struggling firms.

Lidington said: 鈥淸Business secreatry Greg Clark] and his team have also persuaded the banks to put together up to about 拢1bn of support in the form of loans, credit and other financial support to affected businesses and HMRC is giving affected businesses a grace period rather than expecting them to pay immediate tax bills.鈥�