Carillion, was responsible not only for the design, construction and commissioning, but also for on-going operation and maintenance of the £135 million project. Eric Shaw, in his persuasive book, Losing Labour’s Soul?: New Labour and the Blair Government 1997-2007, discusses how the NHS was taken to the cleaners when negotiating these PFI contracts. Not only did the NHS lack the commercial expertise, and were therefore required to outsource the project negotiations and management at enormous cost; but the contracts for operating the hospitals were developed on a deeply flawed risk model, paying the private companies a premium for assuming risk that was in fact still retained by the NHS as the operator of last resort.
If Carillion fails to conduct itself in a manner consistent with the expected ethical standards of the public sector, then it should not be considered for public services contracts.
From Socialist Unity 2012
Carilllion’s failure of corporate governance
It is high time that private companies making profits from public services recognize that they need to match up to the ethical standards that the public expects.
Will the BBC be digging the real dirt on Carillion and seeing where the real blame lies or will they settle for putting all the blame onto the Tories? Carillion was enabled by the Blair government and its policy of privatising the NHS and many public services by stealth as Corbyn supporting Socialist Unity reminds us today…..
The pending collapse of this PFI giant has huge implications.
It also should remind us that as a movement we are still living with the legacy of the Blair years, when PFI was extended further and further into the public sector.
Dare we say it is a sink hole of corruption and duplicity? Or just a complete misunderstanding of how to run a commercial concern!-yet those supposedly in charge were able to draw or negotiate vast salaries and other benefits whilst leaving a trail of disaster behind-surely inevitable was its demise. The Political element will be fully exposed we can be certain of that for its part in the collapse.