Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much has been paid out by his Department in statutory entitlements as a result of the collapse of Comet; how many people have been so compensated to date; and what estimate he has made of the total cost to the Exchequer of meeting all arising liabilities in this case.

Anna Soubry

The Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Service has paid out a total of £23,687,320.37 in statutory entitlements to 4,918 former employees of Comet Group Plc.

It is not possible at present to estimate the total cost to the Exchequer of meeting all liabilities in this case. Further payments will depend on the findings of the Employment Tribunal regarding the employees covered by the protective award judgment, and any associated costs. Consideration of this matter is ongoing and expected to be resolved this year.