Downing Street in bid to reclaim £660,000 ‘golden goodbye’ to disgraced Carillion boss
No.10 says the Official Receiver is reviewing the powers at its disposal to stop the 'golden goodbye' awarded to Richard Howson in November last year
DOWNING STREET is looking at ways of clawing back a £660,000 payday for the disgraced boss of ex-contractor Carillion.
Amid fresh outcry over the collapse, No.10 tonight said the Official Receiver was reviewing the powers at its disposal to stop the “golden goodbye” awarded to Richard Howson in November last year.
The PM’s official spokesman said: “The receivers are looking into those powers. We are seeking to establish exactly what the position is on the payment.”
It came amid fears that scores of Carillion employees will find out tomorrow if they have a job or not. Thousands working on private sector contracts are expected to be axed.
Separately, Labour peer Lord Andrew Adonis said taxpayers face a £600million bill to prop up Carillion’s public sector work following the company’s collapse on Monday.
Business Secretary Greg Clark today demanded the statutory investigation into the conduct of Carillion’s directors was “fast-tracked”.
This means the probe will consider whether those who are, or were previously directors of the company, may have caused detriment to those owed money, including workers and businesses affected.
In a statement he said: “It is important we quickly get the full picture of the events which caused Carillion to enter liquidation.”
The full extent of Carillion’s financial difficulty was laid bare today by documents revealing the company had just £29million in cash when it collapsed. And it owed a staggering £1.3billion to the banks.
Both top accountants PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young refused requests to be administrators amid concerns they would not be paid.
Carillion also owed the Treasury £16million in tax and had a £587million pension deficit, documents prepared for the insolvency process revealed.
Carillion employed 20,000 staff in the UK and was Britain’s second largest construction group but also runs services in schools, hospitals and jails.
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Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington on Monday vowed the Government would prop up the public sector work until new suppliers could be found.
One expert today said he believed Carillion’s creditors would only receive 1p for every pound they are owed by the company.
Peter Kubik, partner at UHY Hacker Young, said: “There will be a huge knock-on effect among smaller firms. Those construction companies and sub-contractors that derived the lion’s share of their income from Carillion are facing some tough months ahead.”