Release: A Missed Opportunity: Notorious VIP Lane Unaddressed in Landmark Report on COVID Fraud
**For immediate release**
Wednesday 10 December 2025 – Anti-Corruption experts and campaigners are calling out the absence of recommendations to address the PPE VIP Lane scandal in the Covid Counter-Fraud Commissioner’s final report, published yesterday.
The long-awaited independent report concluded that almost 90% of the staggering £10.8bn lost to Covid fraud, error, and botched contracts cannot be recovered. But the Commissioner found little to say about the issues with PPE procurement, stating that “[w]hile allegations of corruption and cronyism in PPE procurement have understandably generated high levels of public interest, these issues are often less clearly defined and fell outside the formal scope of this review.”
A missed opportunity
The notorious PPE VIP Lane has become emblematic of the massive misspending, conflicts-of-interest and allegations of cronyism that has damaged the public’s trust in politicians. Billions of pounds of public money were handed out with systematic bias, with catastrophic consequences for both public finances and frontline services.
Under the scheme, eventually ruled unlawful and a breach of equal treatment by the High Court, companies recommended by ministers and MPs of then-ruling party were fast-tracked for lucrative PPE contracts. Companies were over ten times more likely to get a deal if they were referred to the VIP Lane.
The report acknowledges that there was concerning fraud in PPE procurement, but does not provide recommendations to the government on how to avoid such breaches of public trust again. Such an omission is a missed opportunity to address and rectify the systemic issues that gave rise to what is arguably the biggest Government misspending scandal in the UK of all time.
What’s more, the fact that so little of this can be recovered confirms suspicions that much of PPE contracting and procurement was done so badly, with such weak controls and contracts, that the money is largely not recoverable.
What next?
As anti-corruption experts, we are now calling for the government to:
Proactively use compensation orders to recoup more money from directors of firms that engaged in fraud or abuse, and;
Implement without delay the recommendation to ensure all public bodies are transparent about who they award grants and loans to, and to improve small companies reporting to Companies House.
But the government must also go further, and use the commitments in the new anti-corruption strategy to tackle corruption in public procurement to address some of the systemic issues that enabled the VIP scandal to unfold. This should include:
More robust procurement rules to require the private sector to declare conflicts of interest, including political donations and employment of former public officials.
Ensure that debarment can be done based on credible evidence so it can be used to penalise those who engage in egregious trading in influence and profiteering.
Full data on UK public contracts across their planning, tender and implementation including automated red flags and risk analytics in line with its recent Open Government Challenge Commitments.
Dr. Susan Hawley, Co-Chair of the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition and Executive Director of Spotlight on Corruption, said:
“Trust in politics is at an all time low, and the cronyism and waste exposed by the PPE VIP Lane scandal was a major driver of this. It will have been a huge missed opportunity if the government doesn’t take urgent steps to address the systemic issues that gave rise to the scandal. These included abysmal handling of conflicts of interest which enabled those with privileged access to ministers to get a preferential piece of the procurement pie as well as a dismal lack of transparency.”
Steve Goodrich, Head of Research and Investigations at Transparency International UK, said:
“We now know there was systemic bias in the award of public contracts during the pandemic, worth billions of pounds. Not only did this approach to buying PPE and testing services likely inflate prices, but it also secured a significant amount of faulty goods, which could have been fatal for frontline staff. If the COVID 'Corruption' Commissioner doesn't investigate the VIP lane for potential misconduct in public office, who will? Ministers should clarify whose job it is to hold those involved to account.”
Notes to Editor
Research by Transparency International UK identified 135 high-risk PPE contracts worth £15.3 billion, each showing at least three red flags related to corruption risks and undue political influence. Spotlight on Corruption found that 25 of the 50 firms fast-tracked through the government’s “VIP lane” supplied £1 billion worth of PPE that was unusable – nearly 60 per cent of all money awarded to VIP suppliers. These findings were queried in the report but the Commissioner acknowledged that this was not run past either organisation.
The UK Anti-Corruption Coalition have been core participants in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, specifically giving evidence and examining witnesses on procurement during the pandemic.
In her recent Labour conference speech, the Chancellor claimed that £400 million has been recovered so far related to Covid-19 fraud and PPE mismanagement.
The report notes that “there was a high level of fraud compared to actual PPE usage… equivalent to 8.5% of the net value, at regular non-crisis prices, of the PPE actually used.”
The Commissioner agreed with UKACC’s analysis that there was massive over-ordering relative to European peers, with the UK ordering over nine years worth of gowns. He also pointed out that “over-purchasing created problems in making recoveries against disputed contracts… PPE remained in shipping containers for as long as two years before being inspected, with the consequent problems for contract dispute resolution.”
The Commissioner's terms of reference were broad, including:
The Commissioner will review losses of public money to fraud, error and underperforming contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic, with an initial focus on contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE). The Commissioner will:
Assess recovery efforts to date and determine where additional recoveries can be made and ensure those are vigorously pursued
Ensure that the maximum recovery efforts have been taken and provide assurance on this to the public and Parliament
Review individual contracts to provide additional attention and assurance to spending that is disputed
From this work, generate lessons and make recommendations for the future
But in the report, the Commissioner writes: “[t]he report also does not address allegations of corruption or cronyism in PPE procurement. These important allegations have understandably led to high levels of public interest. My core focus as Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner has been on the pressing and distinct issue of fraud against the public purse. While allegations of corruption and cronyism in PPE procurement have understandably generated high levels of public interest, these issues are often less clearly defined and fell outside the formal scope of this review. Nonetheless, fraud and corruption are frequently intertwined, and my work has therefore addressed instances where these broader allegations involved underlying fraudulent activity. This strategic focus allowed me to dedicate the available support and expertise to thoroughly address fraud, although the measures considered in this report are also relevant to tackling related issues of corruption.”