02.07.20
Government spend on Covid response reaches £4.3bn and rising
New Tussell data, published today (July 2) shows that the Government has spent £4.3bn on Covid-19 related contracts, almost doubling since the last report less than a month ago (June 4).
Of the £4.3bn contracts published, SMEs have won two thirds (63%) of the value of PPE contracts, with four of the top five firms involved in supplying to the UK public sector being small and medium sized companies.
£2.6bn worth of the Covid-19 contracts were published in June alone, with PPE, Testing and Hospitals and Drugs contracts all seeing significant increase on award value compared to April and May.
The number of Invitations to Tender (ITTs) published increased by 40% in June, showing strong supply chain recovery since the decline in April.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a notice stating it intends to award a £750m contract for a Covid-19 infection survey, with up to 250,000 participants, to help the Government understand the country’s rate of infection.
NHS England also published a £326m contract naming the six NHS trusts involved in the creation of the Nightingale temporary hospitals.
Since the start of the crisis, traditional procurement rules have been bypassed, to enable emergency provision to be delivered quickly without delay.
Concluding the findings, Tussell said:
“Businesses large and small have been involved in every part of the response – from planning and analytics, to creating and delivering testing kits, providing essential PPE to keyworkers, contact tracing and providing accommodation to those that need it.
“The government is now turning its attention to the recovery programme, in which the private sector will also play an essential role.
“There will be many elements to the recovery, including making public spaces safe in a socially-distanced world, upskilling and retraining workers who have lost their jobs due to the crisis, and investing in infrastructure and construction to create new jobs and encourage growth across the entire UK.”
LISTEN: Ep. 17 The wider impact of Covid-19 on our children - Cllr Fiona Venner