MPs have launched legal action over the government’s failure to disclose details of its spending on contracts related to the pandemic, as it emerged that it has failed to account for £3bn spent on private contracts since the start of lockdown.
Three cross-party MPs and the Good Law Project, a non-profit-making organisation, have filed a judicial review against the government for breaching the law and its own guidance. They argue that there are mounting concerns over coronavirus procurement processes. Despite the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) disclosing in September that at least £11bn worth of contracts have been awarded by the department since April, related predominantly to coronavirus, fresh analysis by data analysts Tussell shows that over £3bn worth of these contracts have not been made public.
Full story in The Guardian, 12 October 2020
