‘Labour promised to clean up Tory sleaze. That starts with mispent Covid contracts’

On 15 October, the deadline passed for PPE MedPro to pay back the £122 million (plus interest) that it was ordered to return to the government after failing to provide adequate PPE during Covid. The company missed it. Indeed, before the ruling, PPE Medpro filed for administration, declaring just £666,000 in assets. 

That a two-week-old firm that secured £203 million in mission-critical government contracts without any experience in PPE provision is a shocking example of how easily vast sums of public money were misspent in a time of crisis. 

The High Court ruling threw the darkest memories of the Covid crisis back into the spotlight. Doctors and nurses were forced to improvise without protective gear, even while a fortune was spent on unusable PPE. Current estimates of waste and write-offs total around £10bn on just under £14 billion of spending on PPE, or about 70%.

With PPE MedPro now in administration, the government’s best hope of recovering more than a token amount lies in pursuing those personally behind the company, not just the shell that fronted the deal. That means using every available legal tool: from compensation and disqualification orders against directors and shadow directors, to tracing assets, freezing transfers and pursuing civil recovery against the beneficial owners who profited. The Insolvency Service should not hesitate to push for director disqualifications, including against those who exerted control or influence without being formally listed. Attempts to do this will be heavily contested. That doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t happen.

UK taxpayers have every right to feel robbed and let down. If Labour wants to prove it stands with them, it must show that every legal, administrative and political lever will be pulled to get that money back.

And this moment in our politics, and in our democracy, it is critical that this government demonstrates that it is firmly on the public’s side, fighting for the money they are owed. 

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The PPE Medpro case cannot be where the recovery ends. It must be where it begins. 

At the Labour Party conference, the Chancellor used her speech to announce a new “hit squad” of investigators to target Covid fraudsters who abused the Eat Out to Help Out scheme or bounce-back loans. Does this mean that the Chancellor has thrown in the towel in trying to recoup the billions lost through PPE and Test and Trace contracts? 

There are still billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money unaccounted for. Research by Transparency International UK identified 135 high-risk PPE contracts worth £15.3 billion, each showing at least three red flags related to corruption risks and undue political influence. UK Watchdog Spotlight on Corruption found that 25 of the 50 firms fast-tracked through the government’s “VIP lane” supplied £1 billion worth of PPE that was unusable – nearly 60 per cent of all money awarded to VIP suppliers. Was it really a good idea to award mission-critical PPE contracts worth billions of pounds to companies specialising in lingerie, drinking straws, beauty and fashion accessories, confectionery, investment management and HR consulting? 

The new Procurement Act strengthened powers for debarment for failed public sector suppliers. So let’s see the government commence debarment proceedings against all PPE and Test and Trace suppliers and their directors who profiteered, breached contracts, or both.  

This government came to power on a wave of frustration with Conservative sleaze and a promise to restore trust in politics. That promise cannot be fulfilled unless it takes on the Covid clawback fight in full. The fight to reclaim misspent public money must start – not end – now.

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