Oldham MP: Government’s Covid PPE contracts either ‘incompetent or dishonest’

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams

Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, has co-launched a cross-party legal action to force the government to reveal details of multi-million pound contracts awarded to companies to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Contracts worth £252m were awarded to Ayanda Capital but no details about the deal have been published. This breaches a legal obligation to do so, within 30 days, for all contracts worth over £10,000. 

Ayanda Capital produced 50m masks but they were declared unsuitable for use by NHS workers. Crisp Websites, a pest-control firm, trading under the name of PestFix, secured a £32m contract from the government, but no details of the contract have been published.

Debbie, who has co-signed a pre-action letter with MPs Caroline Lucas of the Green Party and Liberal Democrat, Layla Moran, said: “The government’s failure to comply with its legal obligation to publish all contracts over £10,000 is due to either incompetence or dishonesty.

“Ministers may try to argue that the COVID-19 emergency meant they could award certain contracts without going through the competitive tender procedure, but this does not exempt them from their duty to publish the contracts, once awarded, within a 30 day period.

“It is wholly unacceptable that as an MP I cannot put the government’s decisions to award these huge contracts under scrutiny and leads me to wonder what it is they have to hide.”

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