11. Carillion plc, a major supplier to the public sector, collapsed on 15 January 2018. Nine days later the House of Commons debated and agreed a Resolution that required the Government to release confidential risk assessments of its main suppliers to this Committee. The risk assessments relate to companies with contracts across several Government departments worth more than £100 million per year, or deemed significant to a sector-designated as Strategic Suppliers by Government.
12. There are currently 27 Strategic Suppliers providing services across the public sector. The risk assessments, compiled every six weeks by Crown Representatives in the Cabinet Office, highlight significant concerns about performance against contracts; summarise financial and market information; and assign a Red-Amber-Green (RAG) risk rating.1
13. The risk assessments provided to this Committee offer an assessment of each company's financial status and performance against contracts, which are encapsulated in a Red-Amber-Green (RAG) rating, augmented by a Black 'High Risk' or exemplary Platinum rating.2 The documents are compiled by each company's Crown Representative.3 The Cabinet Office considers publication of the documents could affect market confidence and harm companies.4
14. We published our Report on the Government risk assessments relating to Carillion on 23 May 2018.5 In that Report we concluded that, as the company was no longer trading, the documents did not contain live and material commercial risks.
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1 See www.gov.uk/government/publications/strategic-suppliers for the most recent list.
2 Q 718
3 The Crown Representatives are civil servants sitting in the Crown Commercial Service in the Cabinet Office. Each Strategic Supplier has a Crown Representative, who acts as their liaison with central government.
4 HC Deb, 24 January 2018, col 341.
5 Committee of Public Accounts. Forty-First Report of Session 2017–19, Government risk assessments relating to Carillion, HC 1045