The government wasted nearly two-thirds of the money it spent on protective equipment – almost £10bn the COVID-19 inquiry has found
It also had ‘perilous’ stockpiles that were unprepared for the pandemic and left NHS staff poorly protected
It wasted two thirds of the money it spent on protective equipment and says thr report? the Government ‘VIP Lane’ for procuring emergency contracts for PPE during the pandemic should never have been set up and must not be repeated.
It was described as as a “misguided” and “unfair” process that undermined public confidence in procurement.
The report found that, of the 32 people who referred successful offers to the VIP lane, 15 had a connection with the Conservative Party and none came from any other party, although politicians from other parties were referred to it.
Lady Hallett said her inquiry had found “no evidence of cronyism or corruption on the part of ministers or officials in the final decision of whether to award or reject a contract”, but noted the system was “inherently biased towards those with connections to the UK government”
The Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Baroness Heather Hallett, published her fifth report and has set out eleven recommendations which she says should be implemented immediately
Lady Hallett said: “The waste of taxpayers’ money was vast. The public must be able to trust that their money is being spent with propriety, fairness and transparency.
That system was “deluged” with offers after Boris Johnson and then-health secretary Matt Hancock issued a “call to arms” for PPE in April 2020.
Officials told the inquiry the call to arms had “made matters worse”, with the procurement system receiving 25,000 offers over 15 weeks, including 300 offers a day at some points.
