‘VIP lane’ for £14billion of PPE deals broke the law
THE ‘VIP Lane’ used to fast-track contracts for £14billion of masks, gowns and gloves to politically connected firms was unlawful, the High Court ruled yesterday.
In a landmark judgment, two companies were found to have received ‘preferential treatment’ when awarded contracts for millions of personal protective equipment (PPE) items.
Hedge fund Ayanda Capital and pest control firm Pestfix both won contracts worth close to £600million. Mrs Justice O’Farrell said the preferential treatment was unfair and unlawful but found it was likely the firms would have won contracts on the merits of their offers without being fast-tracked.
‘The claimants have established that the operation of the High Priority Lane was in breach of the obligation of equal treatment... the illegality is marked by this judgment,’ the ruling said.
The High Court had heard the VIP lane was reserved for firms with referrals from MPs, ministers and senior officials, and those fast-tracked were ‘more than ten times as likely’ to get a contract.
Campaigners argued the Government ‘prioritised suppliers including PestFix and Ayanda because of who they knew, not what they could deliver’. The ruling piled pressure on the Prime Minister on a day when he fought for his political life. In total, 50 firms benefited from contracts resulting from referral from senior Tories, including bra tycoon Baroness Mone. Those contracts provided 32billion PPE items worth £14billion.
Ayanda was handed a £253million contract to supply PPE in a deal brokered by Andrew Mills, who was an adviser to the Board of Trade, then chaired by Liz Truss. Mr Mills was also a ‘senior board adviser’ to Ayanda. PestFix landed a £350million VIP contract after director Joe England met Department for Health chief commercial officer Steve Oldfield at the 80th birthday party of Mr Oldfield’s father-in-law.
Jo Maugham, of the Good Law Project, which brought the case, said: ‘We’ve said all along the VIP lane was a red carpet to riches.’
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said: ‘While our hard-working NHS staff were going without PPE, Tory politicians saw an opportunity to line their cronies’ pockets.’
A Department for Health spokesman said: ‘All contracts underwent sufficient financial and technical due diligence and the Court found that we did not rely on the referral to the High Priority Lane when awarding contracts.’
PestFix said the ruling ‘completely vindicated’ the decision to award the contract as it was ‘based purely on our ability to deliver’. Ayanda said it was pleased the court ‘rejected any suggestion that we were not an appropriate business to source desperately-needed PPE’.
‘Red carpet to riches’