Michael Ejercito
2024-09-09 13:43:01 UTC
https://www.reddit.com/r/LockdownSkepticism/comments/1fccp0z/anticorruption_charity_identifies_significant/
Corruption review finds 'red flags' in more than 130 Covid contracts
14 hours ago
Share
Andy Verity
Investigations correspondent
Getty Images Medical staff wearing protective medical equipment before
entering Covid intensive care ward at University Hospital Coventry on
May 25, 2020 in Coventry, United Kingdom. Getty Images
A general shot of medical staff wearing protective medical equipment
before entering a ward in Coventry, in May 2020
An anti-corruption charity says it has identified significant concerns
in contracts worth over £15.3bn awarded by the Conservative government
during the Covid pandemic, equivalent to one in every £3 spent.
Transparency International UK found 135 “high-risk” contracts with at
least three red flags - warning signs of a risk of corruption.
Twenty-eight contracts worth £4.1bn went to firms with known political
connections, while 51 worth £4bn went through a "VIP lane" for companies
recommended by MPs and peers, a practice the High Court ruled was unlawful.
A Conservative spokesperson said: “Government policy was in no way
influenced by the donations the party received – they are entirely
separate.”
Transparency International UK analysed 5,000 contracts for red flags.
The charity said its analysis also indicated that almost two thirds of
high-value contracts to supply items such as masks and protective
medical equipment during the pandemic, adding up to a total of £30.7bn,
were awarded without any competition.
A further eight contracts worth a total of £500m went to suppliers no
more than 100 days old – another red flag for corruption.
Normal safeguards designed to protect the process of bidding for
government contracts from corruption were suspended during the pandemic.
The government, led by Boris Johnson, justified this at the time by
stressing the need to short-cut the bidding process to accelerate the
supply of much-needed items such as personal protective equipment (PPE).
But Transparency International UK, a core participant in the Covid-19
inquiry which begins its third module on Monday, said the suspension of
normal safeguards was often unjustifiable, costing the public purse
billions and eroding trust in political institutions.
It is urging the authorities to investigate the high-risk contracts it
has identified.
What is the UK Covid inquiry and how does it work?
Unused PPE worth £1.4bn 'stored inappropriately'
The charity said it has written to the National Audit Office, the Public
Accounts Committee and Chancellor Rachel Reeves with a detailed overview
of the findings and the contracts involved.
Chief executive Daniel Bruce said: “That we find multiple red flags in
more than £15bn of contacts, amounting to a third of all such spending,
points to more than coincidence or incompetence.”
He added that “the Covid procurement response was marked by various
points of systemic weakness and political choices that allowed cronyism
to thrive, all enabled by woefully inadequate public transparency.
“As far as we can ascertain, no other country used a system like the
UK’s VIP lane in their Covid response.
“The cost to the public purse has already become increasingly clear with
huge sums lost to unusable PPE from ill-qualified suppliers,” Mr Bruce
continued. "We strongly urge the Covid-19 inquiries and planned Covid
corruption commissioner to ensure full accountability and for the new
government to swiftly implement lessons learned.”
Of a total of £48.1bn of public money spent on private sector contracts
related to the Covid-19 pandemic, £14.9bn was written off by the
Department of Health & Social Care.
Of that, approximately £1bn was spent on PPE that was deemed unfit for
use, according to another NGO, Spotlight on Corruption.
A National Audit Office inquiry into public procurement during the
pandemic, published in November 2020, found no evidence of ministerial
involvement in procurement decisions or contract management.
Corruption review finds 'red flags' in more than 130 Covid contracts
14 hours ago
Share
Andy Verity
Investigations correspondent
Getty Images Medical staff wearing protective medical equipment before
entering Covid intensive care ward at University Hospital Coventry on
May 25, 2020 in Coventry, United Kingdom. Getty Images
A general shot of medical staff wearing protective medical equipment
before entering a ward in Coventry, in May 2020
An anti-corruption charity says it has identified significant concerns
in contracts worth over £15.3bn awarded by the Conservative government
during the Covid pandemic, equivalent to one in every £3 spent.
Transparency International UK found 135 “high-risk” contracts with at
least three red flags - warning signs of a risk of corruption.
Twenty-eight contracts worth £4.1bn went to firms with known political
connections, while 51 worth £4bn went through a "VIP lane" for companies
recommended by MPs and peers, a practice the High Court ruled was unlawful.
A Conservative spokesperson said: “Government policy was in no way
influenced by the donations the party received – they are entirely
separate.”
Transparency International UK analysed 5,000 contracts for red flags.
The charity said its analysis also indicated that almost two thirds of
high-value contracts to supply items such as masks and protective
medical equipment during the pandemic, adding up to a total of £30.7bn,
were awarded without any competition.
A further eight contracts worth a total of £500m went to suppliers no
more than 100 days old – another red flag for corruption.
Normal safeguards designed to protect the process of bidding for
government contracts from corruption were suspended during the pandemic.
The government, led by Boris Johnson, justified this at the time by
stressing the need to short-cut the bidding process to accelerate the
supply of much-needed items such as personal protective equipment (PPE).
But Transparency International UK, a core participant in the Covid-19
inquiry which begins its third module on Monday, said the suspension of
normal safeguards was often unjustifiable, costing the public purse
billions and eroding trust in political institutions.
It is urging the authorities to investigate the high-risk contracts it
has identified.
What is the UK Covid inquiry and how does it work?
Unused PPE worth £1.4bn 'stored inappropriately'
The charity said it has written to the National Audit Office, the Public
Accounts Committee and Chancellor Rachel Reeves with a detailed overview
of the findings and the contracts involved.
Chief executive Daniel Bruce said: “That we find multiple red flags in
more than £15bn of contacts, amounting to a third of all such spending,
points to more than coincidence or incompetence.”
He added that “the Covid procurement response was marked by various
points of systemic weakness and political choices that allowed cronyism
to thrive, all enabled by woefully inadequate public transparency.
“As far as we can ascertain, no other country used a system like the
UK’s VIP lane in their Covid response.
“The cost to the public purse has already become increasingly clear with
huge sums lost to unusable PPE from ill-qualified suppliers,” Mr Bruce
continued. "We strongly urge the Covid-19 inquiries and planned Covid
corruption commissioner to ensure full accountability and for the new
government to swiftly implement lessons learned.”
Of a total of £48.1bn of public money spent on private sector contracts
related to the Covid-19 pandemic, £14.9bn was written off by the
Department of Health & Social Care.
Of that, approximately £1bn was spent on PPE that was deemed unfit for
use, according to another NGO, Spotlight on Corruption.
A National Audit Office inquiry into public procurement during the
pandemic, published in November 2020, found no evidence of ministerial
involvement in procurement decisions or contract management.