Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 1:31 pm on 16 January 2018.
Can he say whether any of the Welsh Government contracts awarded to Carillion were awarded after July, the time of the first profits warning issued by the company? After the second and third profits warning, in September and November last year, did the Government discuss contingency arrangements with Abellio, in relation to Carillion's role as the nominated contractor as part of their rail franchise bid? And can the Cabinet Secretary further advise us whether there's now a material risk that Abellio's bid is effectively null and void, as it is in effect naming a nominated contactor that no longer exists, and therefore rendering it liable to legal challenge? Finally, is the whole Carillion experience, which has left so many smaller sub-contractors and their employees carrying the can, effectively, for a large company's mismanagement and, indeed, reckless profiteering, does it give us pause for thought in our over-reliance, still, on externally owned contracting conglomerates for civil engineering work? There must surely be a better way going forward.