SWINDON’S former MP has spoken out following the collapse of GWH contractor Carillion.

Michael Wills, who was made a peer after his resignation as North Swindon’s MP in 2010, said that there should have been more “active scrutiny” into deals made between government and the super-contractor.

The former New Labour minister said: “When I was a minister I had terrible arguments over these sort of agreements. These contracts were very badly scrutinised by both ministers and civil servants.”

Carillion became involved with the building of the Great Western Hospital in 1999, after its builder brought them in to design and provide catering, cleaning and helpline support.

The PFI contract was one of Carillion’s first.

Lord Wills said that, despite Carillion today going into liquidation, he stood by his earlier support for the hospital PFI contract.

“The first thing to remember is how badly Swindon was served 20 years ago by its hospital,” he said. “The Princess Margaret desperately needed replacing.

“PFI isn’t axiomatically bad in my view, but the deal [at GWH] was bad. Carillion definitely didn’t go bust from the amount of money it was making from the Great Western.

“The real question is about Carillion’s management.”

The firm announced this morning that debt talks with the government and lenders over the weekend had collapsed, saying they had no choice but to place the company into liquidation.

The government has appointed accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers as “special managers” overseeing the liquidation of the company.

Staff will be paid by the government, through the “official receiver”.

Philip Green, chairman of Carillion, said: “We have been unable to secure the funding to support our business plan and it is therefore with the deepest regret that we have arrived at this decision.”