The taxpayer may very well be on the hook for the £2m paid out to Greensill workers after the finance firm went into administration.

Kevin Hollinrake, a junior minister within the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), stated the federal government’s Redundancy Payment Service (RPS) had paid out £2,004,511 to workers of Greensill Capital Management Company (GCMC) after it went into administration in March 2021.

The RPS pays people who find themselves made redundant when the corporate they work for collapses. If this cash can’t be recovered from the failed enterprise, the loss comes from the National Insurance Fund, paid for by National Insurance contributions.

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A request for this cash was despatched by the federal government to GCMC’s directors Grant Thornton UK LLP in April this yr, Mr Hollinrake stated – however no cash has but been despatched up to now, and Grant Thornton has stated it can not assure the debt will ever be paid in full.

It is regular for firms which go bust to be unable to pay their collectors again in full – generally solely offering pennies on the pound.

The administration course of – particularly for complicated firms like Greensill – can take a few years to finish.

Grant Thornton presently says it expects to complete its work in 2025, having been appointed in March 2021.

The Greensill construction was sophisticated – with final management resting in an Australian firm.

Two firms – Greensill Capital (UK) Limited and GCMG – have been the principle ones within the UK.

According to the newest report from Grant Thornton in September, the Greensill empire had commerce belongings value $17.7bn (£14bn) in March 2021, and directors have so recovered $9.3bn (£7.35bn).

Administrators for Greensill UK have recovered $114m (£90.14m) of this.

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The RPS is low down the pecking order relating to getting cash from directors, as its lending had no collateral.

Of the 569 individuals employed by GCMC on the time of collapse, 555 have been made redundant.

Nick Smith, Labour’s shadow deputy chief of the House of Commons, requested the DBT about what steps have been being taken to recoup the cash from Greensill.

Mr Hollinrake stated: “The government’s Redundancy Payments Service seeks to recover all monies paid out from the National Insurance Fund to the employees of an insolvent company.”

He added: “Any funds available for distribution in an insolvent company will be paid out by the administrators in accordance with the statutory order of priority for creditor payments.”

A spokesperson for the directors at Grant Thornton UK LLP stated: “As noted by the minister, any funds available for distribution in an insolvent company will be paid out by the administrators in accordance with the statutory order of priority for creditor payments.

“As the extremely complicated administration course of continues, no funds have been made to unsecured collectors, together with the Redundancy Payments Service, and it might be too early to estimate the quantum of any last funds to such collectors.”

Greensill Capital supplied finance companies to firms, and collapsed in 2021.

After the corporate went into administration, it emerged Lord Cameron, now the overseas secretary, had suggested the enterprise.

Lex Greensill, who arrange the enterprise, labored for Mr Cameron when he was in Downing Street.

During the pandemic, Lord Cameron tried to get UK authorities assist for Greensill by texting and calling authorities ministers. He was in the end discovered to haven’t breached lobbying guidelines.

Mr Smith instructed Sky News: “Lord Cameron should say what pay, bonuses and stock options he received when he was the public face and senior adviser of Greensill Capital.

“Now he is a public servant once more, transparency is vital.

“I wrote to Lord Cameron earlier this month to urge him to disclose this information, however I haven’t had a reply yet.”

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When he was appointed final month, Lord Cameron dismissed criticism of his former position at Greensill, saying: “As far as I am concerned, that is all dealt with and in the past. I now have one job, as Britain’s foreign secretary.”

A spokesperson for Lord Cameron stated: “David Cameron deeply regrets that Greensill went into administration and is desperately sorry for those who have lost their jobs. As he was neither a director of the company, nor involved in any lending decisions, he has no special insight into what ultimately happened. He acted in good faith at all times, and there was no wrongdoing in any of the actions he took.

“He made the representations he did to the UK authorities not simply because he thought it might profit the corporate, however as a result of he sincerely believed there can be a fabric profit for UK companies at a difficult time. He had no thought till December 2020 that the corporate was in peril of failure.”

The Insolvency Service and Greensill have been approached for remark.