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Just now at #PMQs @Keir_Starmer spoke about NEW figures of £130 million spent on comms consultants.
As we wait for the results of the National Audit Office investigation I've called for in the summer, here's a reminder of how this is just the tip of the iceberg
As we wait for the results of the National Audit Office investigation I've called for in the summer, here's a reminder of how this is just the tip of the iceberg
The most recent one, reported only yesterday - was one for £670,000 handed out to a family friend of Dominic Cummings with little experience. https://www.ft.com/content/6159d5b7-171c-49ed-b318-144efcc4ca2a
Then there's also this one with Public First - a £840,000 contract to a company owned by James Frayne, who has previously worked with Cummings, Gove and who co-wrote the Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto. It did not go out to tender. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/revealed-key-cummings-ally-given-840000-covid-contract-without-competition/
And then the overall worrying figure of consultants being paid £7,000 a day in some cases. https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-test-and-trace-consultants-paid-equivalent-of-1-5m-salary-12104028
Not forgetting Ayanda Capital, and the 50 million unusable face masks this government bought from them. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/06/fifty-million-face-masks-bought-government-cannot-be-used-nhs
This is why I called for an investigation this summer from the National Audit Office into this Tory govt's handling of public contracts during the pandemic.
Until then, we urgently need more transparency on these huge sums and what they're delivering instead of bluster & denial.
Until then, we urgently need more transparency on these huge sums and what they're delivering instead of bluster & denial.
