Ministers have been accused of constructing a “pitiful try” to recoup taxpayers’ cash wasted on fraudulent Covid contracts, after it emerged that solely a fraction of the estimated complete had been recovered up to now.
About £18m has been retrieved by the Division of Well being and Social Care by checks on private protecting gear (PPE) contracts recognized as “excessive threat” and thru “contract administration”, the Guardian can reveal.
Will Quince, a well being minister, mentioned the determine was right as of 12 December, and harassed that the federal government was working to “stop loss”. Nonetheless, the quantity of taxpayers’ cash clawed again is considerably lower than that believed to have been misplaced by PPE fraud.
By January 2022, the DHSC mentioned it had spent £12.6bn on PPE. It estimated that as much as 5% of this might have concerned fraud or error – price £630m.
The Public Accounts Committee, which scrutinises the worth for cash of presidency spending, additionally mentioned a stockpile of things price £3.9bn was not wanted. It added that there have been disputes with greater than 100 suppliers over £2.7bn price of inventory – principally over issues concerning the high quality of PPE supplied.
Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrats’ well being spokesperson, tabled the written query to Quince that exposed the sum recovered up to now. She criticised the federal government for having “frittered away” billions on ineffective PPE, and claimed the £18m determine was “a damning indictment” of the Conservatives’ report on “dodgy Covid contracts”.
Cooper mentioned: “These pitiful makes an attempt to recoup the cash misplaced is including insult to damage. Conservative ministers should step up efforts to get better the cash wasted on Covid contracts handed out to their rich associates and donors through the pandemic.”
The Guardian understands that the Lib Dems are planning to desk an modification to the forthcoming procurement invoice, which could have its second studying on 9 January, to ban “VIP lanes”, by which contracts have been immediately awarded to some companies.
Cooper mentioned the transfer would cease “this staggering waste of public cash from taking place once more” by stopping preferential remedy in authorities procurement processes being given to organisations and people advisable by MPs and friends.
The usage of the VIP lane has come beneath renewed scrutiny, after the Guardian revealed that Michelle Mone and her kids secretly acquired £29m originating from the income of a enterprise, PPE Medpro, that was awarded giant authorities contracts and positioned within the VIP lane after she advisable it to ministers.
The DHSC mentioned: “We proceed to promote, donate, repurpose and recycle extra PPE in probably the most cost-effective manner, in addition to searching for to get better prices from suppliers wherever doable to make sure taxpayer worth for cash.
“We’re additionally exploring revolutionary options to reprocess extra PPE into supplies or new merchandise which have additional makes use of.”
The division additionally mentioned it had prevented £139m of fraud occurring due to additional checks put in place.
