• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Former Tory councillor awarded £120m govt contract for unused PPE

The cost of shields used so far come to £423 per piece – even though they can be purchased online for less than £1.

Andra Maciuca by Andra Maciuca
2021-07-26 09:30
in News
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

A former Tory councillor was awarded a £120m government contract for personal protective equipment which is not being used because of quality fears.

Steve Dechan, who owns medical device manufacturer Platform-14, had his offer to get PPE from China fast-tracked through a government “VIP” lane, the Independent has reported.

According to The Sunday Times, only 274,200 shields out of the 120 million ordered have been delivered to the NHS.

Face shields

The cost of shields used so far come to £423 per piece – even though they can be purchased online for less than £1.

Less than 1 in 400 face shields have been used because the regulator believes they do not meet the standards required, but despite this, the government overrode their authority and approved them this year. This means that when the pandemic was at its peak, they could not be used.

Dechan told The Sunday Times that his products did meet the “required standards”.

“As an NHS supplier for nearly 10 years, we will continue to provide innovative solutions and support trusts and patients across the UK,” he said.

VIP lane

The news comes after last year a report has revealed the government established a fast-track VIP lane to buy PPE worth billions of pounds from little-known companies with Tory party contacts.

The National Audit Office (NAO) found that suppliers with links to Tory politicians were ten times more likely to be awarded contracts than those who applied to the Department of Health and Social Care.

RelatedPosts

£50 dinner with Jim Davidson and Lee Anderson gets ruthlessly trolled

Australian news hosts left in hysterics over UK’s lack of Brexit benefits

Watch: Mick Lynch runs rings around journalists… again!

Yikes! 93% of BBC journalists have ‘no confidence’ in senior leadership

The NAO said the government’s procurement efforts during the coronavirus crisis “diminished public transparency”, and accused officials of failing to meet “standards that the public sector will always need to apply if it is to maintain public trust”.

By the end of July, more than 8,600 contracts worth close to £18 billion had been awarded – and £10.49 billion of those were awarded directly to the supplier without any competition or tendering process. In some instances, due diligence was not carried out until weeks after contracts were awarded.

The “high-priority lane” was open for companies referred by government officials, ministers, MPs and peers – sources “considered to be more credible”, the report said.

Cronyism

Roughly one-in-ten suppliers processed through the VIP channel – 47 out of 493 – obtained lucrative PPE contracts, compared to less than one-in-a-hundred suppliers that came through the ordinary lane.

Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the public accounts committee, said the government’s procurement efforts had “ridden roughshod over the taxpayer and ripped up too many of the rules that guard against cronyism.”

“It’s bad enough that it set up a ‘high-priority lane’ to fast-track companies with the right connections,” she said. “But the failure to track how half the companies had ended up on it made it impossible to ensure proper safeguards were in place.”

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “While we recognise that these were exceptional circumstances, it remains essential that decisions are properly documented and made transparent if government is to maintain public trust that taxpayers’ money is being spent appropriately and fairly.”

Related: Tory-linked firms given VIP access to PPE contracts worth billions – report

Content Protection by DMCA.com
Tags: headlinePPE

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending

Elevenses: The Thing About Wrexham’s Cinderella Story

Elevenses: Exposing the Tories’ Deepfake Illegal Immigration Bill

Elevenses: Rishi’s Finest Hour

More from TLE

Brexit protocol: Noose placed on election poster over controversial agreement

DFS staff suspended for mocking ‘camp’ customer

Volunteers arrested before coronation ‘were wearing vests with Met Police logo’

Thunderball Results for Tuesday 22 March 2022 Tonight’s winning numbers

The Great British ‘Where’s Wally?’ Hunt

Majestic pelicans caught on camera ‘reading’ information sign about THEMSELVES

BREAKING: Bookmakers suspend bets on a general election following large bets

Tory peer brands Braverman’s rhetoric ‘racist’

Turkish watchdog tells TV channels to ‘soften’ wildfire coverage

Police partygate questionnaire leaked

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.