The UK Covid inquiry has found that nearly £10bn spent on personal protective equipment during Boris Johnson’s government was wasted. Heather Hallett’s fifth inquiry report says almost two-thirds of roughly £14.9bn spent on medical equipment went to waste.
The report found that a priority route for PPE offers referred by politicians, healthcare leaders and others favoured suppliers with political connections. Of 430 suppliers put through the VIP lane, 54 received contracts; 160 of 15,194 suppliers outside it secured contracts. Suppliers in the priority lane were 13 times more likely to win a contract, yet their contracts were proportionally more likely to have performance problems.
The procurement system faced intense pressure, receiving 25,000 offers in 15 weeks without an effective way to sort them. Hallett found no evidence that ministers or officials engaged in cronyism or corruption when awarding contracts, despite her criticism of the unequal treatment.
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