Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what value of contracts awarded by Government departments to Carillion plc was in the last 12 months.

The government issued a limited number of contracts to Carillion during the period when the company was seeking to address its financial difficulties, whilst of course making sure that we had the right protections in place--Carillion had been a longstanding supplier and had delivered successfully in the past.

We also routinely stress-test contracts to ensure that if one party within a contract fails to deliver, the other parties involved will step in to complete the work. As with all contracts, our priority is to have best value and outcome for taxpayers’ money.