Cable: Capita warnings show it's time to break-up big government contracts

Vince Cable secured an Urgent Question on Capita this afternoon after the outsourcing giant revealed losses of more than £500m last year. Capita has also launched a £700m fundraising to reduce its vast debt pile. The news follows the collapse of another major government contractor, Carillion, in January.

In the Parliamentary debate, Vince Cable said:

"What steps has the government taken to reform the system of procurement so that we do not have companies low-balling to win contracts which then make losses? [What steps] have then been taken to break-up some of these contracts so that we are not over dependent on a handful of financially fragile companies?"