Steve Dechan, a former Conservative councillor, who was awarded £276m in government contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE), has traded his modest home for a £1.5m, 17th-century Cotswolds mansion with … Read more
Coronavirus
A report from the National Audit Office has found that supplier of PPE suppliers with political connections were directed to a “high-priority” channel for UK government contracts where bids were … Read more
The Guardian reports that in what appear to be a breach of the law, the government has failed to publish any information about £4bn of Covid-related contracts awarded to private … Read more
The Times has reported that Kate Bingham, head of the government’s vaccine taskforce, has failed to publicly declare that she manages private investments in two companies involved in the race … Read more
Randox, the Tory-linked private healthcare company whose testing kits had to be recalled over the summer because of concerns about contamination, has been awarded a new £347m Covid-19 testing contract … Read more
The Guardian has revealed that millions of medical masks purchased by the British government for £45m are missing after a major PPE deal collapsed amid accusations of fraud. The Department … Read more
George Monbiot exposes how Serco and Sitel has promoted teenagers and students employed to do the simplest job in the tracing chain, calling those who have been identified as contacts … Read more
Leaked emails and texts seen by The Lowdown and other news sites have revealed moves to bolster the clinical tier of the government’s contact-tracing programme with untrained staff from outsourcing … Read more
It appears nothing succeeds more than failure. Serco, one of the two corporations with key contracts to deliver the shambolic UK “test and trace” system has picked up another extension … Read more
Boris Johnson and his chief scientific adviser have admitted to failings in England’s £12bn test-and-trace system as contact-tracing fell to a new low and waiting times for test results soared … Read more
An investigation by The Times has found that medical companies have charged the NHS inflated prices for ventilators. The government paid Excalibur Healthcare Services £135 million to supply 2,700 ventilators, … Read more
HSJ reports that private hospital providers have been asked to apply to a new procurement framework worth up to £10bn, from which NHS organisations will purchase additional capacity for up to … Read more
Sky News has reported that the government is paying individual private sector consultants million-pound wages to work on its test and trace system. Some executives from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) … Read more
The FT reports that the UK government has awarded £10bn worth of contracts related to the coronavirus crisis to private companies since March, mostly without a competitive tender. The research … Read more
MPs have launched legal action over the government’s failure to disclose details of its spending on contracts related to the pandemic, as it emerged that it has failed to account … Read more
Sky News reports that more than 1,000 consultants from Deloitte are now working on Test and Trace, according to documents released by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) … Read more
In a crisis we need quick thinking and resourcefulness. There’s no time to explain decisions. That’s the justification for the government by-passing scrutiny and transparency, but revelations about dubious deals … Read more
Almost three in four people think failing private contractors Serco and Sitel should be booted out of their role running so-called “NHS Test and Trace” according to a Survation poll, as … Read more
Digital Health reports figures revealed during a Public Accounts Committee hearing that show that around £25 million is expected to be spent this financial year on the new app, while … Read more
Dido Harding, the Government’s testing czar, has suggested that the daily “moonshot” tests for Covid-19 which will allow people to resume normal life will not be available on the NHS. Instead she … Read more
