The lessons from the UK PPE scandals must be learned and those responsible must be held accountable. Public trust in government was seriously eroded by the sight of friends of ministers and party donors getting privileged access to emergency contracts and walking away with huge fortunes.
Module 5 of the Covid-19 inquiry, which is taking place in March 2025, represents a crucial opportunity for public scrutiny of the scandals that rocked procurement of emergency medical equipment during the pandemic. Now is also a crucial moment to reflect on whether the UK has the powers and structures to prevent such scandals happening again.
Spotlight on Corruption has produced the following briefing which – as well as summarising what went wrong with procurement during the pandemic – explores three crucial areas where action is needed:
- Preventing cronyism in contracts: we recommend an ambitious upgrade of conflict of interest management.
- Accountability for wrongdoing by suppliers: we recommend effective use of the new debarment and exclusion regime.
- Accountability for public office holders: we recommend creating an offence of corruption in public office.
The briefing can be viewed or downloaded using the link below.
- Read the detailed briefing
Lessons from the UK’s PPE scandals
How to protect public contracts from cronyism and ensure accountability in public procurement
