Recommendation 14

The first contract did not receive the level of senior scrutiny and sign-off that we would expect for a contract of this size, particularly one awarded without competition. The contract was signed by a deputy director in the Department after officials received authorisation to proceed with the contract from Lord Bethell, the then Minister for Technology, Innovation and Life Sciences in the Department.27 However, Lord Bethell’s authorisation was not formal approval for the contract and the Department confirmed that ministers were not asked to sign off contracts. It added that at that time, contracts were being assured by the Department’s then Second Permanent Secretary, David Williams.28 The Department acknowledged that the lack of documentation to demonstrate formal approval for the first Randox contract was “deeply unfortunate”.29 The Department also confirmed that the head of NHS Test & Trace was not consulted about the award of the subsequent contract extension in October 2020.30