An Urgent Review of Single Source Procurement During the Pandemic: Recommendations for Best Practice and Reform

Public procurement has played a vital role in the COVID-19 response with over 1 billion items of equipment sourced across the UK. However, procurement has not been subject to rigorous analysis. Ordinarily, contracts must be awarded following an open competion. Exceptionally, UK law permits awards to a single supplier without a competition in cases of extreme urgency to minimise delay in delivery. Awards must still be published and clear justifications provided. Yet, hundreds of thousands of contracts have been awarded without full visibility. Further, contracting authorities face immense ongoing pressure to source quickly; suppliers have not been able to access all opportunities; and others have opportunistically charged high prices or not delivered. This project, led by the world-leading Public Procurement Research Group (PPRG) at the University of Nottingham in strategic partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Open Contracting Partnership, will conduct an urgent investigation into single sourcing during the pandemic. The aim is to develop better organisational planning, ensure legal compliance, achieve value for money, and reduce corruption risks in ongoing procurement during the pandemic. The project also aims to lay the foundation for lasting reform which is responsive to a new global political, economic and social reality. To meet these aims, the project objectives will be to: (1) collect and collate evidence of single sourcing through contract data and stakeholder interviews during a defined period; (2) develop a best-practice "toolkit" for immediate use by contracting authorities and suppliers; and (3) provide a "real-time" comprehensive review of single sourcing, comprising analysis of the evidence and recommendations for policy and legislative reform to inform imminent public inquiries and review exercises.