According to research presented to the official inquiry into UK government’s handling the pandemic, the full details of Covid-19 contract worth more than £8bn were not published.
According to a study by , Spend Network,, a consultancy that provides advice on international contracting, the limited information only covers about 1,500 contracts issued by central, local and NHS departments in England.
Although in some cases basic notices have been published on private hospital. NHS England has agreed to pay for operating costs such as rent, interest and staffing, during the pandemic.
NHS England, in response to a Freedom of Information request made in February, acknowledged the problem and promised to “remedy” it as soon as possible. However, it still hasn’t done so.
NHS England released a statement saying: “The NHS publishes contracts awards when applicable, in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines, and 26 agreements for the procurement of private hospitals during pandemics are available online.”
Other £6bn contracts, which include PPE deals with values ranging from several millions pounds to £1.8bn for the largest, are disclosed in varying degrees.
No details, for example, have been released about the PPE contract worth £10mn that was placed in April 2020 by an NHS Trust to purchase 1.9mn gowns. No record exists of who paid for or how many gowns have been delivered.
In a report last month on the wider procurement practices, the National Audit Office (the public spending watchdog) warned that the “poor quality of many of the government’s publicly published data on contracts” reduces transparency, and makes it more difficult to identify and promote the best practice.
The official Covid investigation is expected to begin later this year. It will examine the procurement of personal protective gear during the pandemic. This included the use VIP lanes for suppliers who had connections to government officials or politicians. Last year, a court found that the priority lane used to collect bids for PPE was illegal because it did not comply with public contracts regulations.
The NAO is expected to provide evidence that the suppliers who bid in the VIP lanes were 10 times as likely to win contracts than the other bidders.
The level of transparency that we require is not present. “The government is breaking procurement guidelines, but some departments don’t seem to be bothered about putting the record straight or publishing the Covid contracts,” Chris Smith, an expert at Spend Network who conducted the research, said.
The courts have made clear that, while the government is not legally required to publish contracts, departments and other authorities must have a “good cause” for departing from government guidelines.
One procurement lawyer described the £8bn number as “worrying”.
In a press release, the Cabinet Office stated that although the government is “committed” to transparency of public spending, it’s not mandatory for every public body including the NHS.
Cabinet Office stated that it was incorrect to claim that “all [1,500] contracts referred to require publication. This is especially true if the contracts were made through other public agencies or when bodies purchased goods and services exempted from full procurement regulations”.