Summary
In this blog, Naomi Fulop, board member of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice and Professor of Health Care Organisation and Management UCL, argues that although the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has exposed serious systemic failures around the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE), meaningful accountability remains largely absent. She says that the Covid-19 Inquiry’s findings on the Government’s High Priority Lane, or 'VIP Lane', reveal a procurement system that was biased, poor value for money and harmful to the pandemic response.
Content
Six years on from the start of the Covid pandemic, we finally have an official verdict on one of the most controversial aspects of the government's response: the High Priority Lane or 'VIP Lane', which fast-tracked dozens of equipment suppliers with political connections.
In its report published in July, not only has the Covid-19 Inquiry confirmed the system was inherently biased and gave preferential treatment, it concluded that the VIP Lane hampered the Government's response and delivered millions of items that were unfit for purpose.
Yet despite this, accountability has been almost entirely absent.
The now-infamous case of Medpro and Baroness Michelle Mone is the only VIP Lane PPE contract subject to criminal investigation, the Inquiry noted, despite the Serious Fraud Office receiving up to 120 other PPE-related referrals.
For one of the largest public spending scandals in British history, that is an extraordinary absence of justice.
How can a procurement system condemned by the Inquiry as biased and fundamentally flawed leave so few people answering for it?
Throughout the hearings, a string of ministers and senior officials defended the VIP Lane as a justifiable response to extraordinary circumstances.
When overwhelmed by a flood of PPE offers, they argued that political referrals would help identify credible suppliers more quickly than the normal procurement channels.
But the Inquiry's findings leave that argument in tatters and reveal why no other country believed a political fast-track was wise.
Rather than directing officials towards established manufacturers, around 80% of VIP Lane contracts went through intermediaries—businesses acting as middlemen rather than producers. This compares to just 50% of contracts that went through normal channels.
In procurement, every additional intermediary typically adds extra cost, so it’s no surprise the Inquiry found VIP Lane contracts generally cost more than those awarded through the ordinary route—the average price of a face mask, for example, was £1.70, compared with £1.28 under non-VIP contracts.
But, crucially, VIP lane contracts resulted in lower quality PPE, such as equipment that failed to meet required standards.
In other words, the preferential treatment and higher costs did not buy better outcomes. They made things worse.
One example was SG Recruitment, a small recruitment business employing just five people before the pandemic, which secured a £24m PPE contract following a VIP referral through Conservative peer Lord Chadlington who held positions within its parent company. When it turned out the equipment was unfit for purpose, the Government tried to sue to recover the money but has struggled to recoup it after the firm went into liquidation.
Meanwhile, fashion accessories company Meller Designs secured PPE contracts worth around £160m following a VIP referral through former minister Michael Gove—the owner of Meller Designs had previously made political donations to him. The Inquiry heard the items were supplied at marked-up prices, while more than £8 million worth was found to be unsuitable. The company's profits soared from £143,000 to more than £13m during the pandemic.
While neither case has been found to involve criminal wrongdoing, they illustrate how companies with no apparent experience of PPE manufacturing or supply were able to use their political connections to secure huge contracts that appear, at best, to have been poor value for money.
The specific financial sums wasted through poor-value VIP Lane procurement are damning enough, but there were also broader and more tragic consequences.
The Inquiry detailed how the most experienced procurement staff were devoted to VIP referrals, because they were wrongly assumed to represent the most credible offers. One internal government document warned: "VIP escalation is obstructing progress of more viable opportunities for larger/scalable manufacturers."
The system meant every hour spent chasing politically connected referrals was an hour not spent assessing suppliers who may have been better equipped to deliver desperately needed equipment to hospitals and care homes. This undoubtedly contributed to the lack of appropriate PPE for health and care staff during the first months of the pandemic, leaving themselves, their families and the people they cared for dangerously exposed. It also contributed to the chaos that saw the Government waste a staggering £10bn by panic-buying PPE that would end up going unused.
Supplies of appropriate PPE had still not been sorted by the time of the second wave in the autumn and winter of 2020-21, when care staff were still left without adequate PPE. This included those caring for my mother at home, wearing one thin medical mask per eight-hour shift. My mum died of Covid-19 in January 2021.
For the bereaved families who sat through months of Inquiry hearings, that is what makes this scandal so devastating.
Put simply, a more effective and organised procurement operation could have ensured a better supply of adequate PPE, potentially preventing their loved ones from contracting Covid-19 when they were at their most vulnerable.
Inquiry chair, Baroness Hallett, herself observed that in the absence of criminal prosecutions, the Inquiry would inevitably become the principal vehicle for public accountability. Yet while it has exposed profound failings in the system, accountability remains elusive.
The bereaved families never expected perfection. We understood decisions had to be made at extraordinary speed. What we wanted was honesty, fairness and officials focused on protecting the public.
Instead, we saw billions wasted and lives lost amid a lack of preparedness and a chaotic response that often favoured those with political connections.
Almost nobody has been held responsible, but it's not too late to change that. The bereaved families fought for years to secure this Inquiry when many in Government wanted to move on, and they will continue pressing for accountability. The country owes us nothing less.
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About the author
Naomi Fulop is a board member of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice and Professor of Health Care Organisation and Management, UCL.
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