Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Covid-19: Government Contracts

Thursday 27 May 2021 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Seventy-two percent of covid-related contracts awarded between February and November 2020 were reported after the 30-day legal deadline.
  • Ukraine published information on over 103,000 contracts within a day.
  • The emergency contracting procedure was used by every Administration across the UK, including Labour in Wales.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Tan Dhesi Lab Slough
Ukraine Standards & Ethics
Context

Seventy-two percent of covid-related contracts awarded between February and November 2020 were reported after the 30-day legal deadline, with £7.4 billion-worth of that total reported more than 100 days late. Ukraine published information on over 103,000 contracts within a day.

Question

Seventy-two percent of covid-related contracts awarded between February and November 2020 were reported after the 30-day legal deadline, with £7.4 billion-worth of that total reported more than 100 days late. Ukraine published information on over 103,000 contracts within a day. I appreciate that the Good Law Project, EveryDoctor and other activists have taken the Government to the High Court, which confirmed that the Government acted unlawfully, but is it because of incompetence or because they are so imbued in cronyism that the Government lag so far behind on transparency? When will all public contracts finally be published?

Answer from Michael Gove

All contracts will be published. As I mentioned earlier, we are doing our very best to do that. There is no evidence of cronyism in the contracting process. The emergency contracting procedure was used by every Administration across the UK, including Labour in Wales, and there was a seven-step process supervised by civil servants to ensure appropriate procurement.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific timeline for publishing all contracts

How: Referring To Emergency Procedures Used By Other Administrations, Mentioning Lack Of Specific Charges

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Q2 Tan Dhesi Lab Slough
Ukraine Standards & Ethics
Context

Seventy-two percent of covid-related contracts awarded between February and November 2020 were reported after the 30-day legal deadline, with £7.4 billion-worth of that total reported more than 100 days late. Ukraine published information on over 103,000 contracts within a day.

Question

Seventy-two percent of covid-related contracts awarded between February and November 2020 were reported after the 30-day legal deadline, with £7.4 billion-worth of that total reported more than 100 days late. Ukraine published information on over 103,000 contracts within a day. I appreciate that the Good Law Project, EveryDoctor and other activists have taken the Government to the High Court, which confirmed that the Government acted unlawfully, but is it because of incompetence or because they are so imbued in cronyism that the Government lag so far behind on transparency? When will all public contracts finally be published?

Answer from Michael Gove

All contracts will be published. As I mentioned earlier, we are doing our very best to do that. There is no evidence of cronyism in the contracting process. The emergency contracting procedure was used by every Administration across the UK, including Labour in Wales, and there was a seven-step process supervised by civil servants to ensure appropriate procurement.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific timeline for publishing all contracts

How: Referring To Emergency Procedures Used By Other Administrations, Mentioning Lack Of Specific Charges

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Q3 Fleur Anderson Lab Putney
Standards & Ethics
Context

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said that transparency drives everything the Government does. However, Transparency International found that 20% of PPE procurement raised red flags over possible corruption.

Question

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said that transparency drives everything the Government does. However, Transparency International found that 20% of PPE procurement raised red flags over possible corruption. Will the Government now restore public trust and publish all communications between Ministers and their business contacts over these PPE contracts? Will they publish the details of all the contracts awarded in the VIP lane and end the secretive emergency contracting?

Answer from Michael Gove

The emergency contracting procedure was used by every Administration across the UK, including Labour in Wales. There was a seven-step process supervised by civil servants to ensure appropriate procurement.

Not addressed: Publishing communications with businesses and ending secretive contracts

How: Changing Topic To Emergency Procedures Used By Other Administrations

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