Chamber and committees

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.

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.

The remaining, Scottish Government backed, Carillion public contracts in Scotland were sub-contracted to other companies and were managed by one employee in Scotland and others elsewhere in the UK. The Scottish Government is not aware of any public sector backed contracts funded out with the aforementioned contracts in Scotland. Carillion were also undertaking public contracts in Scotland backed by the UK government. Information regarding these contracts is held by the UK Government.

We understand that public sector contingency plans for the collapse of Carillion largely involve the engagement of existing sub-contractors. We expect, therefore, that relatively few sub-contractors will be adversely affected.

For those that are affected, we have set up helplines which apprentices, employees and companies in the supply chain offering support and advice. Should it be necessary, we stand ready to support any affected employees through our Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) initiative which aims to minimise the time individuals affected by redundancy are out of work. In addition, the Construction Industry Training Board has committed to putting support in place to help affected apprentices and Skills Development Scotland has contingencies in place to help modern apprentices in a potential redundancy situation.

During the meeting Ministers sought urgent updates from all attendees regarding all actions and contingencies already in train before the meeting. The following additional actions were agreed:

- Skills Development Scotland to meet with Training Initiatives Generating Effective Results Scotland (T.I.G.E.R.S) on 17 January to discuss the situation and to provide feedback of this meeting to Ministers.

- It was confirmed that business organisations had been contacted with members being surveyed to allow the impact to assessed. The results of this survey were to be fed back to the Scottish Government.

- To contact the Federation of Housing Associations to seek any information they hold regarding affected contract works.

- All meeting attendees to maintain close contact with Scottish government

- All attendees to relay any relevant information and keep in close contact with Scottish Government officials and The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work’s office.

Construction work has progressed at pace across the site despite the Carillion announcement and the new road is now clearly visible to local communities. Although contractually, the situation with Carillion does not in itself extend the project delivery timescales, given the nature of the issue, we are working closely with Aberdeen Roads Limited to understand whether in reality there will be any impact on the delivery programme. We need to allow the remaining contractors an opportunity to take stock and to resolve any supply chain concerns as a matter of priority. Meanwhile, we will continue work closely with ARL to mitigate any impact where possible.

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 Scottish employees.

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.

Carillion employed 128 Modern Apprentices (MAs). The following figures reflect their destinations as of 9 February 2018:

50 of those are continuing training, either completing their MA or gaining employment. 78 required support to continue their MA have either gone on to positive destinations or are currently being case managed by Career Information Advice and Guidance staff from Skills Development Scotland

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.

Post Mortem examination is a necessary step in the investigation of suspicious deaths. In law, the Defence have a right to instruct a defence post mortem examination to properly test the evidence against an accused person. Failure to recognise this right would potentially jeopardise any subsequent criminal proceedings against an accused person in relation to the death.

In consultation with the Law Society of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates, and Forensic Pathologists, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is reviewing post mortem examination protocols to enable more effective consultation between pathologists instructed by the Crown and Defence. Effective consultation would support an informed defence decision as to whether a second physical post mortem examination was required and may reduce not only the number of required defence examinations but also delays in the return of deceased persons to their families, reflecting the views of families.