G4S confirmed as potential supplier for DWP

G4S could be enlisted to provide support to the Department of Work and Pensions in the future if the government needs additional capacity to handle its call centres, Sharecast has learned.

A spokesman from the Department of Work and Pensions confirmed to ShareCast that G4S, the security outsourcing group, was among six companies on its list of potential suppliers although he said there was no guarantee that any of the companies would receive any work.

"Framework agreements with six suppliers will allow [the] DWP [Department of Work and Pensions] to procure contact centre requirements over the next four years, if needed," the spokesman said.

"[The] DWP's own call centres remain the primary point of contact for claimants and there is no guaranteed work for any suppliers on the framework," he added.

The inclusion of G4S among a list of prospective support providers comes five months after G4S failed to fully deliver on its Olympic Games contract.

During the Games, UK ministers had to mobilise an additional 1,200 troops which had previously been put on standby in order to supplement the security workforce deployment of the Olympic Games.

G4S's share price was up 2.68% to 257p at 11:55 on Tuesday morning.

MF