Transparency in public office is essential to any democracy, but the UK government’s aversion to scrutiny of its procurement track record during the pandemic – an aversion now the focus … Read more
Coronavirus
According to the HSJ NHS England has invoked a ‘surge’ clause in its Covid contracts with private hospitals and given six private hospitals in London a week’s notice that their entire capacity … Read more
The government’s test and trace system run by Tory peer Dido Harding is paying nearly a million pounds every day to the private consultancy firm Deloitte. David Williams, the department of … Read more
The New York Times analysis of the British government’s spending on PPE, ventilators, coronavirus tests and other supplies critical to containing the surge in virus infections, has found that the … Read more
The British logistics company, Uniserve, was awarded Covid-19-related contracts worth around £800m in 2020, all of which were awarded without an open tender. This makes the company the largest recipient … Read more
A Guardian investigation has found that England’s test and trace service is being sub-contracted to a myriad of private companies employing inexperienced contact tracers under pressure to meet targets. Serco, … Read more
The government has refused to publish a list of companies that benefited from being put in the ‘high-priority’ lane for Covid-19 contract work. It has also refused to reveal who … Read more
The National Audit Office (NAO) has investigated the process surrounding the awarding of contracts for services and supplies related to the Covid-19 pandemic. In November 2020, the NAO published two … Read more
The Guardian reports that the government’s £22bn test-and-trace system has failed to reach more than 100,000 people exposed to coronavirus in England’s worst-hit areas since the second wave began with … Read more
A report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that the government spent £10bn more buying personal protective equipment in “chaotic” and inflated market conditions during the pandemic than … Read more
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
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
