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A new report by Transparency International, analysing over 5,000 UK contracts involving over 400 public bodies, official reports, court litigation, and public interest journalism, has highlighted the staggering numbers of contracts that contained a “profound” risk of corruption.
Within days of the pandemic, Byline Times had been working to uncover the full scale of the PPE scandal. From April 2020, this newspaper uncovered contracts being handed to firms which had donated to the Conservative Party.
By 2021, Byline Times had uncovered £3 billion in contracts awarded to donors and associates with political links to the Conservatives.
Some of the most scandalous examples of politically linked procurement were first exposed by Byline Times, which reported on PPE Medpro, a company linked to baroness Michelle Mone, as well as over £1.1 billion gone to companies linked to the Plymouth Brethren religious sect, which has links to the Conservative Party (this number eventually rose to £2.2 billion).
Now Transparency International has uncovered at least 28 identified contracts, with a total value of £4.1 billion, went to those with known connections to the Conservative Party.
A spokesperson for the Conservatives has said of Transparency’s findings that “Government policy was in no way influenced by the donations the party received – they are entirely separate.”
Nearly £50 billion on Covid-Era Contracts
The Transparency report, entitled ‘Behind The Masks’, has now uncovered for the first time the scale of these failings, with key findings including:
- that 8 contracts worth £500 million went to suppliers which were no more than 100 days old.
- The damning report highlights how almost two-thirds of high-value COVID-19 contracts, worth £30.7 billion, crucially lacked any competition.
- Additionally, 10 further contracts, worth £223.7 million, went to ‘micro-firms’, which typically lacked the financial and human resources to deliver on large projects.
- 124 of the contracts during the pandemic, worth £11.8 billion, were published after the legal deadline, with £706.8m done so a full year after being awarded.
Of the £48.1 billion in contracts awarded in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, Transparency International identified 135 “high-risk” contracts – those with at least three red flag warning signs of potential corruption – with a total value of £15.3 billion. This figure represents nearly one in every three pounds spent.
Transparency International Chief Executive Daniel Bruce said of the findings that “we find multiple red flags in more than £15bn of contacts, amounting to a third of all such spending, points to more than coincidence or incompetence.” adding that “the Covid procurement response was marked by various points of systemic weakness and political choices that allowed cronyism to thrive, all enabled by woefully inadequate public transparency.”
Over 85% (£41 billion) went through five bodies; The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Collaborative Partnership LLP, the UK Health Security Agency (and its predecessor, Public Health England), NHS England, and Crown Commercial Service, with the bulk of the contracts awarded going to testing services and PPE procurement.
Government Criticised for ‘Panic Buying’ PPE and Setting Up ‘VIP Lane’ for Contracts with Conflict of Interest Risk ‘High by Design’
A new report by the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee found that the Government was driven by ‘an overriding impetus to buy’ PPE during the pandemic – with ‘limited’ safeguards in place
No Competition
Transparency International also revealed that 51 contracts went through the government’s “VIP lane” for PPE, with 24 of these worth a combined £1.7 billion referred from Conservative politicians or their offices.
15 of these went to politically connected suppliers. Within the VIP lane, firms referred by Tory MPs and peers saw profits soar in their next accounting periods, in some cases by as much as 9,000%.
At a panel in Parliament, Daniel Bruce said: “Nowhere in the world could we find anything that looked like the UK’s VIP lane”.
The report also highlights public interest reporting from groups like Spotlight on Corruption, which identified at least £1 billion worth of contracts ushered through the VIP lane, attributed to 25 suppliers, was later deemed not fit for its intended purpose.
Also highlighted was £925 million for VIP lane PPE which was bought at inflated prices, as calculated by the Good Law Project.
Speaking to Byline Times as the scandal unfolded, Dawn Butler MP said at the time that there was “no competitive tendering and no transparency,” and that the “full extent of this scandal must be brought to light, with full details published of all contracts, so this does not happen again. We all deserve to know how our public money is spent.”
Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves has now said that a Covid corruption commissioner will be appointed to look into an estimated £7.6 billion in fraud, with a particular focus on the staggering amount of PPE that was wasted as a result of choices made during the pandemic.
A treasury spokesperson has said “The chancellor has been clear that she will not tolerate waste and will appoint a Covid Corruption Commissioner to get back the money that is owed to the British people”
Bruce has urged action in the wake of the fresh revelations. “The cost to the public purse has already become increasingly clear with huge sums lost to unusable PPE from ill-qualified suppliers,” he said.
“We strongly urge the Covid-19 inquiries and planned Covid Corruption Commissioner to ensure full accountability and for the new government to swiftly implement lessons learned.”