Corruption review finds 'red flags' in more than 130 Covid contracts

An anti-corruption foundation says it has identified important concerns successful contracts worthy implicit £15.3bn awarded by the Conservative authorities during the Covid pandemic, equivalent to 1 successful each £3 spent.

Transparency International UK recovered 135 “high-risk” contracts with astatine slightest 3 reddish flags - informing signs of a hazard of corruption.

Twenty-eight contracts worthy £4.1bn went to firms with known governmental connections, portion 51 worthy £4bn went done a "VIP lane" for companies recommended by MPs and peers, a signifier the High Court ruled was unlawful.

A Conservative spokesperson said: “Government argumentation was successful nary mode influenced by the donations the enactment received – they are wholly separate.”

Transparency International UK analysed 5,000 contracts for reddish flags.

The foundation said its investigation besides indicated that astir 2 thirds of high-value contracts to proviso items specified arsenic masks and protective aesculapian instrumentality during the pandemic, adding up to a full of £30.7bn, were awarded without immoderate competition.

A further 8 contracts worthy a full of £500m went to suppliers nary much than 100 days aged – different reddish emblem for corruption.

Normal safeguards designed to support the process of bidding for authorities contracts from corruption were suspended during the pandemic.

The government, led by Boris Johnson, justified this astatine the clip by stressing the request to short-cut the bidding process to accelerate the proviso of much-needed items specified arsenic idiosyncratic protective instrumentality (PPE).

But Transparency International UK, a halfway subordinate successful the Covid-19 enquiry which begins its 3rd module connected Monday, said the suspension of mean safeguards was often unjustifiable, costing the nationalist purse billions and eroding spot successful governmental institutions.

It is urging the authorities to analyse the high-risk contracts it has identified.

The foundation said it has written to the National Audit Office, the Public Accounts Committee and Chancellor Rachel Reeves with a elaborate overview of the findings and the contracts involved.

Chief enforcement Daniel Bruce said: “That we find aggregate reddish flags successful much than £15bn of contacts, amounting to a 3rd of each specified spending, points to much than coincidence oregon incompetence.”

He added that “the Covid procurement effect was marked by assorted points of systemic weakness and governmental choices that allowed cronyism to thrive, each enabled by woefully inadequate nationalist transparency.

“As acold arsenic we tin ascertain, nary different state utilized a strategy similar the UK’s VIP lane successful their Covid response.

“The outgo to the nationalist purse has already go progressively wide with immense sums mislaid to unusable PPE from ill-qualified suppliers,” Mr Bruce continued. "We powerfully impulse the Covid-19 inquiries and planned Covid corruption commissioner to guarantee afloat accountability and for the caller authorities to swiftly instrumentality lessons learned.”

Of a full of £48.1bn of nationalist wealth spent connected backstage assemblage contracts related to the Covid-19 pandemic, £14.9bn was written disconnected by the Department of Health & Social Care.

Of that, astir £1bn was spent connected PPE that was deemed unfit for use, according to different NGO, Spotlight connected Corruption.

A National Audit Office enquiry into nationalist procurement during the pandemic, published successful November 2020, recovered nary grounds of ministerial engagement successful procurement decisions oregon declaration management.