Chair of the anti-corruption and responsible tax committee, Dame Margaret Hodge has called on the government to introduce legislation that gives more transparency to public contracts awarded to private companies
In a letter, written to business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office, Hodge calls for the ministers to change section 444 of Companies Act 2006 to require that all private companies, who receive public contracts, must file profit and loss statements.
Hodge highlights that the UK government spent £15bn of taxpayer’s money on personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts and that during the covid-19 pandemic, stringent regulatory guidelines that are usually in place, were often ignored.
This meant that contracts were granted without any competition and as a result contracts were awarded to small companies which would not have been considered under normal arrangements.
