PPE Medpro, a company with links to Tory peer Baroness Mone, is being sued by the UK government for £122 million over its PPE supply contract during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Baroness Mone recommended the business for a government contract, and it was awarded with a deal worth £122 million to supply PPE via the VIP fast lane in 2020.
The government is suing the company on the grounds that it provided substandard products, with ministers claiming that medical gowns provided by PPE Medpro “did not comply with the specification in the contract”.
The decision to sue comes after a lengthy mediation process between the company and the government Department of Health and Social Care [DHSC].
A DHSC spokesperson said: “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 June 26, 2020.
“We do not comment on matters that are the subject of ongoing legal proceedings.”
Alongside the value of the contract, the government has said that it had to spend £6.9 million storing the substandard equipment, equating to £61,000 per week. It also included estimations of £4.7 million in costs to dispose of the PPE in its claims.
With the PPE proving unusable and its storage and disposal coming at an excessive cost, the government has accused the company of a “breach of contract and unjust enrichment”.
PPE Medpro hit back with a statement of its own, alleging that the government was making a “cynical attempt” to recoup money with the legal action and that it would “rigorously” oppose it.
Adding that it had brought in consultants to scrutinise the “technicalities” of each agreement, the company said it would “seek to dismantle” each claim and “make uncomfortable reading for both the government and DHSC”.
The statement also read: “PPE Medpro will demonstrate to the courts that we supplied our gowns to the correct specification, on time and at a highly competitive price.
“The case will also show the utter incompetence of DHSC to correctly procure and specify PPE during the emergency procurement period.”
In the background, Baroness Mone is facing allegations that she benefited financially from the contracts awarded to PPE Medpro and has taken a leave of absence from the House of Lords as she bids to clear her name.
Baroness Mone’s lawyers said in December 2020 that she had “no rule or function” within the business, “nor in the process by which contracts were awarded” to it.
The House of Lords commissioner did launch an investigation into the Conservative peer’s role in procuring contracts for the business, after she recommended the company to Lord Agnew who subsequently directed it to the VIP contracts lane.
However, the Lords commissioner’s probe has been put on hold, since the matter is being investigated by the National Crime Agency.
Image by Herry Lawford on Wikimedia Commons
