Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he expects the (a) Insolvency Service's investigation into the conduct of Carillion's directors and (b) Financial Reporting Council's investigation into the preparation of Carillion’s accounts to conclude; whether he has received any provisional conclusions; and if he will make a statement.

For the official receiver, the amount of time an investigation takes is dependent on the size and complexity of the business. As this is a large and complex case, it is not possible at this early stage to specify a timeframe. Should the official receiver find any evidence of director misconduct this would be referred to the Insolvency Service for further investigation. The Secretary of State has not received any provisional conclusions from the investigation, nor would he expect to do so from either the official receiver or the insolvency service. Investigations by the official receiver and the insolvency service are conducted separately from Ministers, as is the making of decisions arising from investigations on any possible prosecution or director’s disqualification.

For the Financial Reporting Council, the timing of the investigation depends on the size and complexity of the issues to be considered, but will be taken forward as quickly as possible. At the conclusion of an investigation, the matter may be referred to an independent tribunal which the FRC would convene for the purpose of hearing the case and determining final sanction.