Carillion chiefs face MPS’ probe

The top brass at collapsed services and construction giant Carillion face a grilling by MPS next month, it emerged yesterday.

Parliament’s Pensions and Business Committees said they were launching a joint probe into the affair that has fuelled uncertainty over the jobs of thousands of workers ranging from hospital construction to school meals and cleaning.

The committees said that leading Carillion bosses to be quizzed at evidence sessions on 6 February will include former chief executive Richard Howson, chairman Phillip Green, interim chief executive Keith Cochrane and exfinance chiefs Richard Adam, Zafar Khan and Emma Mercer.

Labour MP Rachel Reeves, chairwoman of the Business Committee, said: “In the wake of the BHS scandal, Carillion has the hallmarks of another corporate governance failure, with directors asleep at the wheel while the business went off a cliff, in this case leaving jobs, pensions and public services under threat and a host of suppliers out of pocket.”

Carillion’s liquidation left in its wake a massive £900 million debt pile, a £590m pension deficit and hundreds of millions of pounds in unfinished public contracts.

It comes amid escalating anger over Howson’s bumper pay packet during and after his tenure, as well as that of Khan and Cochrane.

Howson, who headed the company from 2012 until July 2017, pocketed £1.5m in 2016, which included a £122,612 cash bonusand£231,000inpension contributions.

As part of his agreed departure deal, the embattled Carillion had agreed to continue paying him a £660,000 salary and £28,000 in benefits until October 2018.