Carillion - a little extra input

Couple of talking points keep coming up about Carillion. 

Firstly that contracts should not be awarded to the lowest bidder - they usually are not in the Public Sector, but are awarded on the basis of Most Economically Advantageous Tender, i.e. Value for Money.  Obviously price is a factor.

Secondly, sub-contractors accuse companies like Carillion of not paying promptly (Carillion seem to have used factoring of invoices, so that should not be a problem).  Public Contracts require contractors to pay sub-contractors within 30 days.  If they do not then a) the sub-contractor can charge interest at 8% above base rate (i.e. 8.5% at the moment) b) the public sector client can arrange to pay sub-contractors directly and c) late payment may be held against them as a reason for not allowing them to bid for future contracts (in extremis).

I'm not saying these are not problems - they are - but there are existing provisions that could deal with them if applied and enforced.