Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Government’s contracts with Randox Laboratories Ltd

Status: Closed Opened: 25 Apr 2022 Closed: 8 Nov 2022 12 recommendations 11 conclusions 1 report

At the start of the pandemic Government had to rapidly create high volume COVID-19 testing capacity, but the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that, even taking the exceptional circumstances into account, “the documentation of the decision-making process for such large contracts was inadequate”, and Government did “not document key decisions adequately when awarding a …

Reports

1 report

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Seventeenth Report - Government’s contracts with Randox Lab…	HC 28	27 Jul 2022	23	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

5 items

1 Conclusion Seventeenth Report - Government’s contr… Not Addressed

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department of Health & Social Care (the Department) and the UK Health Security Agency (the Agency) about the government’s contracts with Randox Laboratories Ltd (Randox) during the COVID-19 pandemic.2 Government correspondence and other …

Government response. The government provides background information on the contracts awarded to Randox Laboratories Ltd during the COVID-19 pandemic but doesn't respond to any specific recommendation.

HM Treasury

17 Conclusion Seventeenth Report - Government’s contr…

Randox asked for government help within weeks of being awarded its first contract to enable...

Randox asked for government help within weeks of being awarded its first contract to enable it to deliver its contracted level of tests. Randox needed access to specialist testing equipment held in universities and other laboratory facilities, which it and other suppliers received after ministers requested equipment loans on their …

HM Treasury

18 Conclusion Seventeenth Report - Government’s contr… Not Addressed

The first contract was originally intended to run for 12 weeks, ending in June 2020.

The first contract was originally intended to run for 12 weeks, ending in June 2020. However, Randox faced difficulties meeting the service levels specified in the contract. There were a number of reasons for this, including Randox taking longer than expected to increase capacity as well as lower than forecasted …

Government response. The response addresses a different conclusion/recommendation (conclusion #19) about holding Randox to account.

HM Treasury

20 Conclusion Seventeenth Report - Government’s contr…

For its first testing contract with Randox, the Department paid a price of £49.60 per...

For its first testing contract with Randox, the Department paid a price of £49.60 per single test. The contract price included the cost of supplying test kits, laboratory processing, transporting test kits and completed samples, and reporting of results. The Department could not provide details of contract negotiations prior to …

HM Treasury

21 Conclusion Seventeenth Report - Government’s contr…

The Department said that in relation to contract pricing, it did not consider the advantage...

The Department said that in relation to contract pricing, it did not consider the advantage to Randox that might be gained by the company winning early government contracts for testing (for example, from setting itself up as an established provider of testing services). The Department reiterated that the focus at …

HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session

Date	Witnesses
18 May 2022	Dame Dr Jenny Harries · UK Health Security Agency, Shona Dunn · Home Office	View ↗

Correspondence

5 letters

Date	Direction	Title
8 Nov 2022	—	Correspondence from Shona Dunn, Second Permanent Secretary Department of Health…
20 Oct 2022	—	Correspondence to Schillings relating to the Government's contracts with Randox…
20 Oct 2022	—	Correspondence from Schillings relating to the Government's Contracts with Rand…
21 Jun 2022	—	Joint correspondence from Shona Dunn, Second Permanent, Secretary Department of…
24 May 2022	—	Correspondence from The RT Hon Matt Hancock, West Suffolk, re NAO report on the…