Shining a light on rotten Covid contract process | Letters

The post-pandemic public inquiry must examine the government’s procurement procedures, writes Phil Murray, while John H Butcher hails the judicial review brought by the Good Law Project David Conn (Covid contracts: why are courts needed for public to get answers?; Revealed: Cummings’ role in handing Covid contract to firm run by ‘friends’, 15 February) casts some much-needed light on the government’s at best casual, and at worst potentially corrupt, contract procurement processes during the pandemic.From its unpublicised suspension of standard procurement rules, to its allocation of contracts to suppliers with minimum expertise, to the fast-tracking of bids made by those with the appropriate “contacts”, and the refusal to respond to a freedom of information request for clarity on how such public money was disbursed, the government’s whole procurement process smells rank. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/17/shining-a-light-on-rotten-covid-contract-process #public_services_policy #coronavirus #infectious_diseases #dominic_cummings #conservatives #privatisation #business #politics #science #uk_news #health_policy #law