Companies recommended by MPs, peers and government offices were given priority in the provision of PPE
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE
In a historic crisis, governments may need to take emergency powers. The public understand this, which is why they have supported curbs on civil liberties during the pandemic. With power, however, comes the responsibility to exercise it transparently in the public interest. The obligation to get value for money in public procurement during the coronavirus crisis has not been observed as rigorously as it ought to have been. It is hence timely that the government is publishing new rules today on public procurement.
The sums involved in state buying amount to around £290 billion annually. As a member of the European Union, Britain was subject to strict rules requiring that government contracts be put out to competitive tender. The proposed new rules are intended to
