169. The wider implications of the collapse of Carillion for the way in which the Government outsources public services are currently the subject of an inquiry by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee.481 We therefore do not explore this whole business model here and look forward to their report. But it is clear that the role of the Crown Representative is particularly in need of review. We noted in Chapter 2 the unfortunate absence of a Crown Representative in Carillion at a critical period, but we question whether the role as it stands is suited to the task of ensuring that the Government's and the taxpayers' interests are being properly served. Where a company is providing so many key services for Government, it is essential that the Government can maintain confidence in that company's ability to deliver for the period it is contracted to do so. Carillion was a hugely complex company, it operated in the highly volatile construction and outsourcing services markets, and it entered into long contracts with uncertain returns. It seems inconceivable that a credible oversight function could be performed properly by an examination of published accounts and quarterly meetings with the board. Some individual Crown Representatives are responsible for three separate strategic suppliers: for example, the Crown Representative for Capita also covers Fujitsu and Motorola.482 A deeper engagement with the business at all levels is required, to gain an understanding of the company's culture (for example, with regard to the timeliness of payments) and to enable any concerns affecting Government contracts to be detected and escalated early. While this may be a costlier system, that expenditure should be set against the actual costs now being incurred by the Government intervention to keep public services running following Carillion's collapse. We recommend that the Government immediately reviews the role and responsibilities of its Crown Representatives in the light of the Carillion case. This review should consider whether devoting more resources to liaison with strategic suppliers would offer better value for the taxpayer.
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481 Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, Sourcing public services: lessons learned from the collapse of Carillion inquiry
482 Cabinet Office and Crown Commercial Service, Transparency Data: Crown Representatives and Strategic Suppliers, accessed 1 May 2018