£3bn is larger than the budgets of many government departments - but taxpayers don't know how it has been spent.
How did the blackhole emerge? 1/5
How did the blackhole emerge? 1/5
https://twitter.com/Gabriel_Pogrund/status/1315199372494286849
In August three MPs and the Good Law Project, a non-profit organisation, launched legal action against the government over its allegedly “persistent and unlawful failure” to disclose details of Covid-19-related spending 2/5
The claimants argue that the state has breached a law that requires contracts to be published within 30 days.
They have also posed Qs about firms that have secured lucrative work, like PestFix, a family-run pest control firm which has received at least £32m to produce PPE 3/5
They have also posed Qs about firms that have secured lucrative work, like PestFix, a family-run pest control firm which has received at least £32m to produce PPE 3/5
In a recent letter fighting the claim, govt lawyers reveal that DHSC has paid private firms more than £11bn since April 6. They say publishing contracts data isn't a “straightforward matter” and that rushing the process “will almost inevitably come at the expense of accuracy”4/5
According to @Tussell_UK DHSC has published £7.7bn of contracts this financial year, so £3.3bn unaccounted for > budgets of Defra, FCO.
Average time taken to publish Covid-19 contracts was 72 days, more than double the limit
And no clarity on when we'll get transparency. 5/5
Average time taken to publish Covid-19 contracts was 72 days, more than double the limit
And no clarity on when we'll get transparency. 5/5
.@CarolineLucas: “This isn’t just about the mis-use of public money. It’s about ministers being accountable to Parliament over their response to the biggest public health crisis this country has faced for a century”.
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