The Government has failed to fully document processes on its way to awarding hundreds of millions of pounds worth of Covid testing contracts, a report has revealed.
But the National Audit Office (NAO) said it found no evidence that Department of Health contracts had not been properly awarded.
And it was accepted that ministers acted swiftly in exceptional circumstances.
But the inquiry criticized “audit trail gaps”, with Labor accusing the government of acting “quickly and loosely”.
Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the report “confirms an overall clean bill of health for the ministers’ work”.
As Covid hit, ministers had to increase testing capacities and work with the private sector to ensure both services and supplies, the NAO said.
As part of the operation between January 2020 and December 2021, a total of 22 contracts valued at a maximum of £776.9 million were awarded to healthcare company Randox or its strategic partner Qnostics Ltd, according to the report. forgive.
The NAO said 60% of the total value of these contracts (£463.5m) was awarded directly without competition, applying emergency procurement rules.
However, it found that the Department of Health failed to “adequately” document key decisions, nor did it “fully” disclose ministerial meetings with Randox.
The company was first awarded a £132.4million contract for testing services on March 30, 2020, said the NAO, which said the health board had told it a tender was ruled out due to the urgency of the situation.
However, the NAO said “basic information about the emergency procurement process”, including evidence of permits, was not recorded in the department’s systems, with evidence of the decision only becoming available after checking emails from several officials.
The regulator added that the government had provided it with “incomplete or no documentation” on “other material aspects of procurement,” including detailed contract negotiations and consideration of potential conflicts of interest.
Records of meetings also came under the spotlight of the NAO, which found that the Department of Health had failed to disclose Randox’s attendance at four ministerial meetings, as it should have done under transparency requirements.
Minutes added to the report were only kept for two out of eight meetings on tests involving Ministers and Randox in 2020 and 2021.
In addition, the NAO focused on messages between then Health Secretary Matt Hancock and North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson.
Mr Paterson resigned from Parliament in November 2021 after it was found that he had broken rules by repeatedly lobbying on behalf of Randox and another company for which he worked as a paid consultant.
The NAO said Mr Hancock told them he had not forwarded all messages to his department “as they were not substantive discussions and he was under no obligation to do so”.
The messages were kept by Mr Hancock and made available to Parliament last month, the NAO added.
It concluded that the government was unable “to provide positive assurances in the usual way” because the Department of Health had failed to adequately document key decisions, fail to fully disclose ministerial meetings or keep full records of ministerial discussions with Randox.
Labor MP Meg Hillier, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said: “The Government has recognized the urgent need to increase the level of testing at the onset of the pandemic. But while she was quick on the procurement, she was quick and easy on the process.”
Randox said the fact that the watchdog found no evidence of wrongdoing when placing orders “confirmed” his insistence that the process followed official protocols.
Referring to ministerial meetings “which do not appear to have been fully documented,” she added: “While we cannot comment on the government’s minutes of meetings, Randox can state categorically that procurement is not on the agenda at any of these meetings was standing. “
Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Submit your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk
Add Comment