By Stefan Boscia
The government is suing a firm linked to Baroness Michelle Mone, after it was handed contracts worth more than £200m to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) during Covid-19.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) today announced it was suing PPE Medpro for £122m plus costs, after the firm allegedly breached a contract “regarding gowns delivered … 26 June 2020”.
The firm was given a contract to supply 25m sterile surgical gowns, however the equipment delivered has never been used amid Whitehall claims that they were not up to standard.
A spokesperson for PPE Medpro said the firm would “rigorously” defend the claim and that the equipment passed the necessary quality checks.
PPE Medpro has been at the centre of recent controversy as allegations have emerged that Mone, a Tory peer, lobbied ministers to hand Covid contracts to the firm and then profited from the government’s decisions.
PPE Medro was given government contracts to make surgical gowns and masks throughout the pandemic and was allegedly part of a VIP fast-lane for Covid contracts.
“We can confirm that we have commenced legal proceedings in the High Court against PPE Medpro Limited for breach of contract regarding gowns delivered under a contract dated 26 June 2020,” the Department of Health said.
“We do not comment on matters that are the subject of ongoing legal proceedings.”
It has been alleged that Mone personally profited from the awarding of the contracts and she has now had the Tory whip suspended in the Lords.
The life peer, who was ennobled by David Cameron in 2015, has taken a leave of absence from the House of Lords.
A spokesperson for Mone recently said she was taking leave from the Lords to “clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her”.
A PPE Medpro spokesperson said: “By the end of 2020 it was clear that DHSC has vastly over-ordered and … it was clear that the DHSC would never be able to use all the PPE they procured. Consultants were then brought in to pick over all the contracts and fight product not on quality but on contract technicalities that were never envisaged at the time of contract.
“DHSC’s cynical attempt to recover money from suppliers like PPE Medpro, who acted in good faith and to contract specifications, will be found out through the civil court process.
“The case will also show the utter incompetence of DHSC to correctly procure and specify PPE during the emergency procurement period.”
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