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The government has told the thousands of subcontractors owed millions following Carillion鈥檚 collapse that they will not be bailed out with taxpayers鈥� money.

The Cabinet Office minister, David Lidington, told parliament the government would not step in and rescue those firms working on Carillion鈥檚 private sector schemes.

Yesterday, the chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractor鈥檚 Group, Rudi Klein, warned that up to 30,000 subcontractors and suppliers were owed up to 拢1bn by Carillion with some just weeks away from collapse.

But in an emergency debate on Carillion鈥檚 demise which finished yesterday evening, Lidington (pictured) told the House of Commons that firms who were owed money on Carillion鈥檚 private sector contracts stood no chance of receiving any public money.

He told MPs around 60% of Carillion鈥檚 拢5bn-plus revenue was from private sector contracts. 鈥淭he vast majority of the problems the company has encountered come from these contracts rather than the public sector.鈥�

He added: 鈥淐ompanies in non-government contracts that are not involved in the provision of public services would become creditors of Carillion. The responsibility of the government and the use of taxpayers鈥� money should be first and foremost for protecting the delivery of key public services and the employees who deliver those services.鈥�

Later in the debate, he underlined the government鈥檚 position: 鈥淚t is right that taxpayers鈥� money is used to protect public services, not to bail out either creditors or shareholders of a private sector company that has made serious financial mistakes.鈥�

The news is a hammer blow to hopes the government would make Carillion鈥檚 implosion a special case and help out the thousands of firms caught up in the debacle.

Klein has already warned Carillion鈥檚 demise has brought a number of firms to the brink of collapse. 鈥淸They] are only two or three progress payments away from going down. If there鈥檚 an interruption to the flow of payments it could be a matter of four to six weeks before we see some fatalities.

鈥淚n my 30 years in construction I have never witnessed anything as bad. This affects thousands of firms.鈥�

During the same debate, the Conservative MP behind last week鈥檚 10 minute rule bill into changing the law to tackle abuse of retentions in the construction industry said Carillion was notorious for milking the system.

Peter Aldous said: 鈥淚n preparing for that Bill, it very quickly became clear that Carillion was one of the worst offenders.鈥�

Asked whether he would bring forward the Bill in government time, Lidington said: 鈥淭here is a case for the government to take a fresh look at the procurement process. However, I do not want that, in the next few days and weeks, to get in the way of our immediate responsibility to make life as easy as it can be made for employees, pensioners and others who are very worried about their futures.鈥�

A second reading of the Aldous Bill is due in late April.