Chamber and committees

Self-directed support is the approach that Scotland takes to mainstream social care. Decisions on resource allocation for social care are a matter for Integrated Joint Boards.

Third sector organisations who represent patient views were involved in shaping the design of the funding programme. The assessment panel also included representatives from the NHS and third sector.

Carer’s Allowance is a taxable benefit and therefore Carer’s Allowance Supplement will be taxable, as the legal definition of income for tax purposes remains reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government does not have the power to change this as set out in the Fiscal Framework, which states at section 89: Any new benefits or discretionary payments introduced by the Scottish Government will not be deemed to be income for tax purposes, unless topping up a benefit which is deemed taxable such as Carer’s Allowance. Any changes to reserved taxation legislation require to be made by the UK Government.

Contingency plans to maintain public services vary by contract but seek to maximise opportunities for affected workers. For contracts where Carillion were part of a joint venture, the other joint venture partners are continuing the work and are looking to take on as many workers as they can

Contingency plans for other public contracts involve public bodies seeking to engage with Carillion’s old subcontractors so many workers’ employment will be unaffected. In addition, those sub-contractors are looking to take on as many of the Carillion workers from those contracts as they can.

The Scottish Government has been liaising with Cabinet Office, the Official Receiver and PricewaterhouseCoopers to ensure that information on support through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) is available for Scottish based employees affected by developments at Carillion.

By providing a range of support, PACE aims to minimise the time individuals affected by redundancy are out of work. The package of support is tailored and includes one to one counselling, information on rights and entitlements, financial advice, skills development and help with job search.

Since the liquidation of Carillion, the Scottish Government has continued to liaise closely with Skills Development Scotland to ensure appropriate support for affected employees and apprentices.

Support is being put in place, for example, through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) and Adopt and Apprentice which financial incentive to cover the wage and recruitment costs of taking on a Modern Apprentice who has been made redundant from another employer.

With SDS, we are also working with wider partners such as the Construction and Industry Training Board to continue both monitor and respond to developments in relation to Carillion’s liquidation

The liquidation of Carillion has been a massive blow to the UK construction industry. The work on the contract will continue through the 2 remaining construction partners, namely Balfour Beatty and Galliford Try. However, we are continuing to work closely with Aberdeen Roads Limited to identify and assess any impacts on delivery following Carillion’s announcement.

The intention remains to open the project roads in the coming months. This is in line with the initial timescale announced by Ministers in 2012. Notwithstanding the Carillion announcement, this target remains challenging and will depend upon many factors including favourable weather.

On 16 February 2018 I visited the construction site to speak with the contractors staff involved with the project and to see the progress of the works for myself.

Since the announcement of Carillion’s insolvency, we have been working closely with Aberdeen Roads Limited to understand and assess any impacts on the delivery of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route. The Carillion element of the Aberdeen Roads Limited consortium currently remains solvent, however the construction joint venture has been affected. We will now work with both Aberdeen Roads Limited and the remaining parts of the construction joint venture to identify whether any additional sections of the project roads can be opened ahead of the full project opening, delivering earlier benefits to the North East.

Scottish Government provides various types of funding support to public and private bodies across Scotland and internationally. Scoping Carillion’s involvement across all of these interests would be expensive and would be a duplication of much of the effort already underway by the Official Receiver in their efforts to liquidate Carillion. We are therefore working closely with the official receiver and their special managers PWC to obtain accurate numbers of jobs supported by Carillion in Scotland.

For those working on the AWPR Aberdeen Roads Limited, the project contractor, has been able to confirm that there are 76 Carillion staff directly employed working on the project. We also understand that a further 101 staff and 90 operatives are engaged through a labour only sub-contract through a Carillion subsidiary.

Network Rail has confirmed that there are 115 Carillion staff working on projects in Scotland who are directly employed. Network Rail has also confirmed that a further 50 operatives are engaged through a labour only sub-contract through a Carillion subsidiary.

We continue to work closely with the official receiver and their special managers PWC to obtain accurate numbers of jobs supported by Carillion in Scotland.

Carillion’s corporate structure and systems are making it difficult for the Official Receiver to determine a definitive number of jobs supported. Nonetheless, we are working with UK government to press the Official Receiver and their Special Managers PWC to gain clarity as soon as possible on the total number of jobs that might be affected.

For those working on the AWPR Aberdeen Roads Limited, the project contractor, has been able to confirm that there are 76 Carillion staff directly employed working on the project. We also understand that a further 101 staff and 90 operatives are engaged through a labour only sub-contract through a Carillion subsidiary.

The budget for the AWPR will remain the same and there will be no increase in costs to the public purse as a result of Carillion’s liquidation. The contract for this project contained a number of provisions to ensure that each construction partner of Aberdeen Roads Limited is joint and severally liable for the delivery of the contract. As is standard in contracts of this nature, the contractor gets paid when sections of road become available for use. No additional costs are due to the contractor as a result of this insolvency.