Experienced companies with established supply chains ans stocks were ignored in favour of VIP lanes like Hancock's pub mate
Using those companies would have been quicker and would have saved a lot of tax payer's money.
@DuncinToffee that's not what the Pursuing Recoveries and Preventing Reoccurrence Final Report of the Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner quite says is it? I'd extend this observation to @cardibach and @Blossomtoes . All three of you normally tend to a more evidence driven approach which would be disappointing to see abandoned.
It is a lengthy report , but use ctrl-F for "corruption", or "cronyism" or "HPL". The author does not pull any punches but equally does not appear to be suffering from Reformitis (the peddling of populist bullshit and half-truths) either.
I'll link to the full report published just last month again. Final Report of the Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner
To quote directly from the report, para 2.9, on the High Priority Lane (VIP lane). My emphasis is in bold
Lack of transparency, delayed contract publication and the HPL undermined public trust, although do not appear to have contributed to the problem of contested contracts.
Questions have been raised about the quality of deliveries from suppliers introduced to DHSC via the HPL. Under this scheme, suppliers introduced by officials or politicians were treated as high priority to enter the process for consideration ahead of others. They were then subject to the same review as other potential suppliers although in the first phase of the pandemic this required few checks. I was told that the HPL was developed as a response to the DHSC being flooded with well-meaning offers to supply small quantities of unsuitable product, in response to a “Call to Arms” from the Prime Minister and the DHSC Secretary of State. Notwithstanding concerns from early reports about the quality of deliveries by HPL suppliers, my analysis of the HPL contracts suggests that they were no more likely to be subject to dispute than those from outside the HPL.
But to highlight that this is far from a black and white, right or wrong issue the same para goes on to say:
However, the absence of a material difference in the quality of deliveries does not justify the departure from good procurement practice and the impact on public trust created by the existence of the HPL. Similarly, the failure to publish details of PPE contracts on time, highlighted by the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition, undermined public trust in government and invited suspicions about corruption.
As the report states initial demand estimates were wildly overstated leading to a probably well meaning "Call to Arms" that added chaos rather than control. As the report says further on "HPL appears naive". And to agree with @Blossomtoes it restates from the outset he general lack of preparedness that created a key opportunity for both fraudulent behaviour and the lack of key controls that might have prevented more of it.