Recommendation 10

Regulations governing public contracts require departments and other bodies to identify and manage conflicts of interest in the procurement process. The Procurement Bill, published in May 2022, reinforces these requirements and would also explicitly require departments and bodies to prepare conflicts of interest assessments before contracts are awarded.18 The Department acknowledged it had a clear responsibility to determine whether there are live conflicts of interest associated with those involved in decision making around contracts.19 However, in the case of the first Randox contract, the Department failed to carry out any identification or assessment of conflicts of interest. It erroneously stated on contract documentation that consideration of conflicts of interest was deemed “not applicable” because the contract was directly awarded under emergency procurement procedures.20