Civil Servants Felt Pressured Into Giving ‘Special Treatment’ to Conservative-Connected COVID PPE Suppliers

Civil servants felt pressured into giving “special treatment” to PPE suppliers with political connections to Conservative ministers, correspondence released by the COVID Inquiry has revealed.

The Inquiry this week heard from a civil servant tasked with procuring PPE from the suppliers that were referred to the unlawful VIP Lane during the pandemic.

The witness statement and accompanying evidence provided by Dawn Matthias-Jackson paints a damning picture of the political interference inherent at the time.

As the then-Conservative Government scrambled to replenish stocks of masks, gloves and gowns during the early months of the pandemic in 2020, they set up a system which effectively fast-tracked bids from companies that had connections to the party. These contracts were inflated by at least £925 million, with VIP lane suppliers paid 80% more per unit than other suppliers.

In an email sent in May 2020, Mathias-Jackson suggests a member of the public should submit a Freedom of Information Request (FOI) to ascertain how many VIP lane suppliers had “party connections”, stating that in her opinion “it would be on the high side based on what I have seen going on”.

This was in response to another civil servant describing the situation as, “Definitely a thing for mates … lots of back-scratching!”

There were also numerous eye-watering emails where civil servants voiced concerns over political pressure and the risk of escalation to ministers if they didn’t respond to VIP suppliers promptly.

Emails published by the inquiry found:

• In April 2020, civil servants were concerned by the “noise” from one unnamed VIP supplier who was threatening “escalation to Lord Feldman” because officials were taking too long completing the necessary due diligence process — the pressure appeared to pay off and the offer was processed “ASAP”. Byline Times has previously reported on Lord Feldman’s involvement in lobbying officials on behalf of a PPE supplier, who was also a “good friend” of Cabinet Minister Michael Gove.

• In an email sent on 31 March 2020, just one week into the first national lockdown, officials flagged the risk of VIP suppliers complaining to Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock and Gove if they didn’t respond promptly enough to the supplier.

• Civil servants felt “totally swamped” by the number of VIP cases that kept coming in and despite working up to 15 hours per day could not keep up with the “volume of emails”.

• According to officials, VIP suppliers “believed they are too important to complete a survey” that every other prospective PPE supplier outside of the VIP lane had to complete. Instead, they opted to utilise links to ministers or lobby Hancock or Gove and officials became nervous of the “noise” these suppliers could make if they were not contacted within 24 hours.

Preferential Treatment and Threatening Behaviour From VIP Suppliers

The evidence provided by Matthias-Jackson reveals she was worried by the “unfair” behaviour of a PPE supplier named Andrew Morris who claimed to have close ties to former Conservative Party Minister Robert Jenrick.

In her statement to the Inquiry, Matthias-Jackson states: “I was concerned about Mr Morris because his persistence was extreme and he threatened to report me to Mr Jenrick when he met him later that evening in one phone call. I thought his behaviour was unfair.”

It’s unclear if Morris secured a PPE contract from the Department for Health and Social care.

Matthias-Jackson also claimed to have asked officials to “prioritise” certain VIP suppliers where she was receiving “pressure” and considered it possible that suppliers who had access to the high priority lane did receive “special treatment” because of the speed in which their offers were reviewed when compared to the thousands of other suppliers stuck in the public-facing procurement channels.