Labour has called on the Crown Commerical Service to explain why
emergency procurement rules, introduced at the start of the
Covid-19 pandemic, have still not been revoked.
This follows the debate instigated by Labour in the House of
Commons on Wednesday regarding the Randox Covid contracts and the
role of and Cabinet Ministers in the
awarding of such contracts. Randox was given £600 million of
taxpayers’ money outside of the normal procurement rules and
without a tender – £350 million of which after it was forced to
recall 750,000 sub-standard kits.
has already admitted that he
has deleted his WhatsApp messages related to handing out of
government contracts and on Wednesday the Government confirmed
that a minute of a meeting between and Randox could not be
found.
, Labour's Shadow Paymaster
General, has written to the Crown Commerical Service, who oversee
public procurement, to ask whether the emergency guidance issued
last year suspending normal procurement rules was still in place,
and if so, "what justification there is for this guidance and
when will it be withdrawn?"
In his letter, Dromey says "inadequate" procurement processes
must not be allowed to continue, particularly as the "exceptional
circumstances of last March are no longer apparent".
Dromey adds: "These emergency rules have led to billions of
pounds of taxpayers' money being handed out on dodgy contracts
and opened the door for the shocking levels of lobbying that the
case exposed. The Government
must act now to revoke these emergency rules, clean up how public
contracts are awarded and put an end to this scandal."
Ends
Notes to editors
- Full text of Jack Dromey's letter to Simon Tse, Chief
Executive of the Crown Commercial Service:
Dear Simon,
I am writing to you regarding the emergency information and
guidance issued by the Cabinet Office in March 2020 regarding
public procurement regulations and responding to the Covid-19
pandemic.
In March 2020, the Cabinet Office issued the Procurement Policy
Note (PPN) 01/20[1] which
set out the guidance for public bodies who needed to procure
goods, services and work with extreme urgency. The note made
clear that due the exceptional circumstances of the time,
authorities would be permitted to procure using regulation
32(2)(c) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015[2]. This states
that, “insofar as is strictly necessary”, emergency procedures
may be used where:
“for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events
unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for
the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with
negotiation cannot be complied with.”
The seriousness and scale of threat the pandemic posed last year
was unlike anything this country has faced since 1945. Clearly,
during a time of crisis, such emergency regulations may need to
be invoked. However, as the country has overcome the tragedy of
the initial waves of the pandemic, it is less clear whether such
regulations should continue to be the basis of procurement
guidance to public bodies.
Emergency procurement procedures, specifically regulation
32(2)(c), have already been the subject of reports investigating
the risks it posed to public money and concerns regarding
transparency in the awarding of contracts, potential conflicts of
interest and the use of unsuitable suppliers[3].
Following recent revelations regarding the awarding of public
contracts during the pandemic and the role of Cabinet Ministers
in this process, I am concerned that such inadequate procurement
processes should not be allowed to continue. While coronavirus
remains an ongoing threat to the health and wellbeing of the
country, the exceptional circumstances of last March are no
longer apparent.
I would therefore be grateful if you could confirm if official
guidance continues to allow for emergency procurement procedures,
and if so, what justification there is for this guidance and when
will it be withdrawn?
I look forward to your response on this matter. I am sending a
copy of this letter to Alex Chisholm, Chief Operating Officer of
the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary for the Cabinet
Office.
Yours sincerely,
Shadow Paymaster General
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0120-responding-to-covid-19
[2] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/102/regulation/32/made
[3] https://www.nao.org.uk/report/government-procurement-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/;https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/4607/documents/46709/default/
