Covid-19 Procurement Fraud 2024-02-29
2024-02-29
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Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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Context
The question stems from an inquiry into public expenditure losses due to procurement fraud related to the pandemic. The Government had released a report detailing detected procurement fraud costs for 2020-21.
What recent estimate has been made of the cost to the public purse of procurement fraud during the covid-19 pandemic?
The Government's “Cross-Government Fraud Landscape Annual Report 2022” includes data from the first year of the Government's response to the pandemic. The report suggests that in 2020-21, Government Departments and arm's length bodies reported a total of £124.6 million of detected procurement fraud. The same report showed that at the end of March 2021, some £88.2 million of fraud and error had been recovered within covid-19 schemes. Since then, crucially, further funds have been recovered and the Government will continue to update the House as fresh data becomes available.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
The question arises from public concern over the handling of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic, particularly regarding fraudulent activities. There is a desire for a dedicated officer to oversee recovery efforts.
When people think back to the sacrifices they made during the pandemic, the greed associated with the PPE scandal jars with them; will the Minister commit to following Labour's lead and appoint a covid corruption commissioner to chase down and claw back every penny of taxpayers' money wasted?
This Government take PPE fraud extremely seriously. To remind the House of the figures, 1.8% of expenditure on PPE was lost to fraud at a time when there was the most extraordinary public crisis in several generations and we were competing in an extremely overheated international market. To date, we have recovered more than a quarter of that 1.8% and the fight to recover more continues. PPE procurement is subject to ongoing contract management controls, active dispute resolution and recovery action. The law is on our side and we are using it.
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Assessment & feedback
commitment to appoint a dedicated commissioner
Response accuracy
Q3
Partial Answer
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Context
The question relates to the exclusion of a local business, Wearwell (UK), from regional procurement during the pandemic. There is concern about relying on international suppliers and interest in prioritizing domestic manufacturing.
The covid procurement scandal upset many people; I spoke with a fantastic local business in Tamworth that was manufacturing PPE as part of the regional procurement but was cut out of the process during the pandemic. The UK must be prepared for another pandemic, and British manufacturing offers a faster response time and more stable supply chain. When will we return to regional procurement to prioritize local businesses when providing PPE?
I welcome the hon. Lady to what I think are her first Cabinet Office questions. She is right to draw attention to the fantastic textile manufacturing that exists in the region in which her constituency sits. She will have heard me talk about the Procurement Act 2023, which was passed last year and will make sure that small and medium-sized enterprises, which by their nature are often local enterprises, will have a bigger share of public procurement.
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Assessment & feedback
specific timeline for returning to regional procurement
Response accuracy
Q4
Partial Answer
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Context
The question addresses discrepancies between the previous Health Secretary's assurances about non-payment for undelivered PPE and actual expenditure. There are concerns over the government's accountability regarding contracts that were not fulfilled.
We had scandals such as Baroness Mone's; at the time, there was a hedge fund in Mauritius getting £250 million for face masks unusable and a jeweller in Florida receiving millions for gowns unusable. The Government incinerated billions of pounds worth of faulty PPE. That is taxpayers' money literally going up in smoke. Yet, the Health Secretary said: 'where a contract is not delivered against, we do not intend to pay taxpayers' money.' But taxpayers' money was spent; why wasn't that promise met?
I gently refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer I just gave. The fact is that, although problems arose with PPE procurement in this uniquely difficult environment in which officials were working unbelievably hard for the public good, PPE procurement is still subject to ongoing contract management controls, active dispute resolution and recovery action. The Department of Health and Social Care realised the risk of fraud early on, established a counter-fraud team, and used legal tools to recover taxpayers' money.
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Assessment & feedback
explanation for not meeting the promise to withhold payment for undelivered contracts
Response accuracy