Covid corruption commissioner starts fraud probe
Joe Pike
Political & Investigations Correspondent•@JoePike
Jennifer McKiernan
Political reporter, BBC News•@_JennyMcKiernan
PA Media
The new Covid corruption commissioner has started an investigation into personal protective equipment (PPE) fraud.
Tom Hayhoe's first task will be reviewing the £8.7bn of PPE bought during the pandemic that then had to be written off the government's books.
Mr Hayhoe is also likely to review the previous government's abandoning of attempts to reclaim money from deals worth £674m.
The National Crime Agency is separately investigating possible criminal offences committed in the PPE procurement system.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has asked him to try to recover the public money lost to fraud and underperforming contracts using his experience in procurement as the former chair of an NHS trust.
A Treasury source said: "The chancellor has been clear that she wants this money - that belongs to the British people, and belongs in our public services like our NHS, schools, and police – back.
"She won’t let fraudsters who sought to profit off the back of a national emergency line their pockets.
"Tom Hayhoe brings a wealth of experience and will leave no stone unturned as a commissioner with free rein to investigate the unacceptable carnival of waste and fraud during the pandemic."
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) lost three-quarters of the £12bn it spent on PPE in the first year of the pandemic, largely due to inflated prices and kit that did not meet requirements.
The civil servant who presided over the DHSC during the pandemic, Sir Chris Wormald, has now been appointed to be the UK's most senior civil servant - the Cabinet Secretary.
One prominent company that was awarded government PPE contracts worth more than £200 million through a so-called "VIP lane" was PPE Medpro, linked to Baroness Michelle Mone.
Her husband has since accused the government of trying to "scapegoat" the couple for its own failures, instead blaming the DHSC and calling for the resignation of its top civil servant, Sir Chris.
Labour had a manifesto commitment to appoint a fixed-term commissioner and use every means possible to recoup public money lost in pandemic-related fraud and from contracts which have not been delivered.
Mr Hayhoe contract is for one year, supported by a small team within the Treasury, and he will report to Reeves directly.
He will submit a report at the end of his contract with lessons and recommendations for government procurement in the face of future crises.
The new Covid corruption commissioner has started an investigation into personal protective equipment (PPE) fraud.
Tom Hayhoe's first task will be reviewing the £8.7bn of PPE bought during the pandemic that then had to be written off the government's books.
Mr Hayhoe is also likely to review the previous government's abandoning of attempts to reclaim money from deals worth £674m.
The National Crime Agency is separately investigating possible criminal offences committed in the PPE procurement system.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has asked him to try to recover the public money lost to fraud and underperforming contracts using his experience in procurement as the former chair of an NHS trust.
A Treasury source said: "The chancellor has been clear that she wants this money - that belongs to the British people, and belongs in our public services like our NHS, schools, and police – back.
"She won’t let fraudsters who sought to profit off the back of a national emergency line their pockets.
"Tom Hayhoe brings a wealth of experience and will leave no stone unturned as a commissioner with free rein to investigate the unacceptable carnival of waste and fraud during the pandemic."
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) lost three-quarters of the £12bn it spent on PPE in the first year of the pandemic, largely due to inflated prices and kit that did not meet requirements.
The civil servant who presided over the DHSC during the pandemic, Sir Chris Wormald, has now been appointed to be the UK's most senior civil servant - the Cabinet Secretary.
One prominent company that was awarded government PPE contracts worth more than £200 million through a so-called "VIP lane" was PPE Medpro, linked to Baroness Michelle Mone.
Her husband has since accused the government of trying to "scapegoat" the couple for its own failures, instead blaming the DHSC and calling for the resignation of its top civil servant, Sir Chris.
Labour had a manifesto commitment to appoint a fixed-term commissioner and use every means possible to recoup public money lost in pandemic-related fraud and from contracts which have not been delivered.
Mr Hayhoe contract is for one year, supported by a small team within the Treasury, and he will report to Reeves directly.
He will submit a report at the end of his contract with lessons and recommendations for government procurement in the face of future crises.
Today
Left Foot Forward
Tom Hayhoe has landed the covid counter-fraud job, with an initial focus on reviewing PPE contracts
Rachel Reeves has appointed Tom Hayhoe to the ‘high-profile new role’ of scrutinising contracts that were awarded during the covid-19 pandemic.
Hayhoe will start by reviewing £8.7 billion of personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts that were written off by the Department for Health and Social Care in the 2020/21 financial year.
This included £674 million spent on defective PPE, £2.6 billion for items not suitable for NHS use, £4.7 billion from paying inflated prices and £750 million for “excess” inventory that passed its expiry date.
During her speech at Labour Party Conference in September, Reeves announced that she would be reversing the Conservatives’ decision to waive £674 million of covid contracts in dispute, stating that the government will not “turn a blind eye to rip-off artists”.
A report by the anti-corruption group Transparency International published in September found that at least 28 contracts worth £4.1 billion went to those with ‘known political connections’ to the Conservative government.
In January 2022, the High Court ruled that the Conservative government’s VIP lane to give preferential treatment for PPE contracts to companies like Ayanda and PestFix was unlawful.
Hayhoe has chaired NHS trusts and worked in management consulting. He briefly served as chair of the Jersey government’s Health and Community Services Advisory Board, resigning after three months over “differences in working style” with the health minister Deputy Tom Binet.
He was appointed to the Legal Services Consumer Panel in May.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
Tom Hayhoe has landed the covid counter-fraud job, with an initial focus on reviewing PPE contracts
Rachel Reeves has appointed Tom Hayhoe to the ‘high-profile new role’ of scrutinising contracts that were awarded during the covid-19 pandemic.
Hayhoe will start by reviewing £8.7 billion of personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts that were written off by the Department for Health and Social Care in the 2020/21 financial year.
This included £674 million spent on defective PPE, £2.6 billion for items not suitable for NHS use, £4.7 billion from paying inflated prices and £750 million for “excess” inventory that passed its expiry date.
During her speech at Labour Party Conference in September, Reeves announced that she would be reversing the Conservatives’ decision to waive £674 million of covid contracts in dispute, stating that the government will not “turn a blind eye to rip-off artists”.
A report by the anti-corruption group Transparency International published in September found that at least 28 contracts worth £4.1 billion went to those with ‘known political connections’ to the Conservative government.
In January 2022, the High Court ruled that the Conservative government’s VIP lane to give preferential treatment for PPE contracts to companies like Ayanda and PestFix was unlawful.
Hayhoe has chaired NHS trusts and worked in management consulting. He briefly served as chair of the Jersey government’s Health and Community Services Advisory Board, resigning after three months over “differences in working style” with the health minister Deputy Tom Binet.
He was appointed to the Legal Services Consumer Panel in May.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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