Recommendation 5

The Department failed to hold Randox to account for its performance against its first contract and awarded it another £328 million extension without competition. The Department did not set out any key performance indicators for Randox in its first contract and only introduced performance measures such as test turnaround times from July 2020 – a month after that contract was originally expected to end. When awarding the first contract, the Department saw Randox as a market leader and one of the few providers able to expand testing, but Randox still needed government support to fulfil the contract. The Department says that it was not surprised at Randox’s request for government help to secure necessary testing equipment, but details of the expected support were not clearly set out in the contract or considered when agreeing the contract price. Despite the performance issues with the first contract, which meant Randox took longer than expected to Government’s contracts with Randox Laboratories Ltd 7 increase its testing capacity, the Department still awarded a £328 million extension to Randox without competition in October 2020 and appeared by then to have already become heavily reliant on its services. Recommendation: We expect clear and definitive assurance from the Department that even where contracts are awarded in exceptional circumstances, it will set performance indicators and use these to hold providers to account.