Johnson government wasted ‘vast’ sums on PPE, Covid inquiry finds

Heather Hallett’s report found the nation’s stockpile of PPE and other vital healthcare equipment was inadequate at the start of the pandemic. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Heather Hallett’s report found the nation’s stockpile of PPE and other vital healthcare equipment was inadequate at the start of the pandemic. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian Johnson government wasted ‘vast’ sums on PPE, Covid inquiry finds Chair criticises use of ‘VIP lane’ to prioritise PPE contracts for companies with Tory connections in damning report Boris Johnson’s Conservative government wasted public money on a “vast” scale with flawed buying of personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic, an official inquiry has concluded. The Covid-19 inquiry chair, Heather Hallett, also criticised the then government’s controversial “VIP lane”, which gave high priority for PPE contracts to companies with political connections to the Tories. The most high-profile scandal of the VIP lane contracts was PPE Medpro, a newly formed company linked to the then Conservative peer Michelle Mone , which was awarded two contracts worth £203m after Mone first approached Michael Gove , the then Cabinet Office minister, in May 2020. The inquiry did hear evidence relating to PPE Medpro, and Lady Hallett, a former court of appeal judge, has reached findings, but they are not yet being published due to a long-running investigation by the National Crime Agency into the procurement of the contracts. Hallett’s findings will only be published after the conclusion of any criminal proceedings. “The ‘high priority lane’, also known as the ‘VIP lane’, was a misguided attempt to give priority to the most credible offers,” Hallett said in her report, concluding that it “embedded unfairness” in the procurement. “Some suppliers received favourable treatment because they had connections to government,” she found, “undermining public trust at a moment when it was needed most.” The waste of PPE procured as the crisis hit – mainly from manufacturers in China – was widely reported within months, as it piled up and began to be disposed of. “The UK entered the pandemic with an inadequate stockpile of PPE and plans that had never been stress-tested,” Hallett said. “The waste of public money was vast and could have been avoided. Of approximately £14.9bn spent on PPE, nearly two-thirds – almost £10bn – was wasted.” Hallett’s report says £4.2bn was paid by the government on “VIP lane” PPE contracts. View image in fullscreen The Covid memorial wall in London. Members of a group representing bereaved families told the inquiry they believed inadequate PPE and equipment was a factor in their relatives’ contracting Covid and dying. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer Pete Weatherby KC, a lawyer for Covid Bereaved Families for Justice (CBFFJ), which represents about 7,000 people whose relatives died during the pandemic, called during the hearings on procurement in March 20