Procurement principles are still important even under time pressure

 

Matt Hancock and Boris Johnson deploy one single argument, namely that they were in a hurry, to rebut all criticism.

Public obligations should  not in fact be so easily dismissed.

I have undertaken procurement during a pandemic (Ebola, Sierra Leone, with UK Government money). Much earlier, I have obtained a waiver for part of a public sector procurement process.

And so I am aware that even in an emergency, even in a pandemic, the obligations for appropriate procurement never disappear,

The requirements to ensure  Fitness for Purpose, Competence of Supplier, Value for Money and transparency still apply – why would they not do so? The supplier chosen must be competent and appropriate, and not vastly inferior to the expectations from the open market.

Any waiver of aspects of the standard process does not remove these requirements, but should be obtained on the basis that the Senior Responsible Officer personally commits to ensuring that the requirements will still be met even if an accelerated process is followed.

This is perfectly well understood by the Civil Service who can advise Ministers. And so we have the usual question: are the politicians ignorant of their obligations, or are they now wilfully attempting to deceive the public with spurious excuses?  In either case it is dangerous for the public if these people  are in office. This is illustrated by – for example – those heroic NHS staff who have died because of the problems that Matt Hancock is now unaware of – and therefore, if we believe him, was always unaware of.

 

What could possibly make the case better for a judge-led Public Inquiry now, so that the lessons that Government Ministers refuse to consider are learned, understood and applied? That would show bereaved relatives the respect which is currently lacking from the Health Secretary and Prime Minister.

 

 

REFERENCED ARTICLES

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/23/hancock-criticised-for-claim-there-was-no-national-covid-ppe-shortage

Hancock criticised for claim there was never a national PPE shortage

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/22/cronyism-britain-rampant-banana-republic-covid-contracts-government

The Covid contracts furore is no surprise – Britain has long been a chumocracy (Monday)

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