UK Government Procurement Under Pressure

Yesterday the FT published an article, £19bn of UK Covid-related contracts awarded without seeking rival bids.

The report reviewed the value of direct award government contracts over the pandemic, and was based on Spend Network’s government contract data, analysed for the 12 months to March 18, when the govenrment first invoked its emergency procurement procedures.

Our data showed that of the £19bn Covid-19 contracts awarded without competitive tendering, £17.6bn was awarded by the central government, mostly by the Department for Health and Social Care, and just over £1.2bn by the NHS. Although the number of direct awards slowed towards the end of last year the data showed the fall wasn’t as rapid as we would expect.

The data also showed that the Govenrment continued to award contracts without any competitive process despite the National Audit Office warning in November of the risk that it undermines trust.

We analyse government contract data from over 150 countries globally, allowing governments to contract better and more transparently, and allowing citizens to understand where government spend is being directed.

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