Guest column: New owner is great news for the Tigers

It is great that there is finally an owner that will give the club a fresh start and I look forward to meeting with him soon.

The news this week that Carillion has gone into liquidation is very worrying for our area and the country as a whole.

In Parliament, I have tabled a number of questions to ministers to find out what plans there are to keep public sector services on course and to protect projects from stalling or failing.

It surprises me that public contracts continued to be issued after the profit warnings earlier last year.

And there are many questions that now require answers.

Many of Carillion’s 19,500 staff provide services to schools, prisons and the military and I am calling for those staff to be brought in-house to secure their jobs and maintain services.

I have no doubt that people from Bassetlaw will be affected by this, either directly or through working for a sub-contractor or as part of the many service industries that exist due to the large scale of works that were done by Carillion.

Its collapse is yet another warning of the risks that are taken when private firms are awarded state contracts.

For years, Carillion has been able to privatise the profits made on the back of these.

Now the taxpayer could once again be called into pick up the bill.

Last week I announced that I want to hear from any people who felt that they had had to pay too much for a funeral.

I want to make sure that Bassetlaw residents are not paying over the odds at such a difficult time when both their finances and emotions are already over stretched.

Everyone deserves to have a dignified send-off that is within their family’s means.

If you feel you have had to pay over the odds for a funeral, or have had to go into debt in order to cover the charges, I am keen to hear about your experiences.

I can assure you that this will be in absolute confidence.

Please email me at [email protected], call my office on 01909 506200 or contact me through Facebook.

Follow John Mann on Twitter at @JohnMannMP