A company associated with Baroness Mone is facing a repayment of over £121 million to the government due to a breach of a Covid PPE contract. PPE Medpro, responsible for delivering 25 million surgical gowns during the pandemic, was taken to court by the Department of Health and Social Care for allegedly supplying substandard goods. Following a High Court ruling, the firm, led by businessman Doug Barrowman, the husband of Baroness Mone, has been instructed to pay back nearly £122 million within two weeks. The company had secured government contracts under the previous Tory government, recommended by Baroness Mone, who is currently on leave from the House of Lords. Both Baroness Mone and her husband have denied any wrongdoing.
In response to the verdict, Chancellor Rachel Reeves emphasized the government’s intention to recover the funds, stating that the money will be reinvested in essential sectors such as schools, the NHS, and communities. The government’s legal representatives argued that in addition to the £121 million contract costs, they were entitled to reimbursement for transportation and storage expenses amounting to an extra £8,648,691. Conversely, the company’s lawyers contended that PPE Medpro had been unfairly targeted and accused the government of regretting the deal, attributing the gown defects to post-delivery storage conditions at the DHSC.
PPE Medpro had filed for an administrator’s appointment ahead of the ruling, while Baroness Mone expressed her discontent with being portrayed negatively in the PPE scandal. The court ruling by Mrs. Justice Cockerill concluded that the company had breached the contract by supplying non-sterile gowns, entitling the DHSC to the gown’s price as damages but dismissing the government’s claim for storage costs. The payment deadline set by the judge is 4 pm on October 15.
In response to the judgment, Mr. Barrowman criticized the decision as a miscarriage of justice, arguing that the evidence presented during the trial demonstrated the sterility of the gowns. Court documents revealed that the DHSC had paid PPE Medpro over £121 million in 2020 but rejected the gowns later that year, demanding repayment which has not been fulfilled. Discussions regarding the contract had involved Baroness Mone initially, with subsequent negotiations managed by one of the company’s directors. The DHSC’s legal representative emphasized the importance of compliance over alleged impropriety, highlighting the failure of a significant number of gowns to meet sterility requirements.
The company’s legal team argued that the excess gown order by the government indicated a lack of need, branding the situation as buyer’s remorse and suggesting that external factors contributed to gown contamination post-delivery. Baroness Mone decried being targeted unfairly in a bid to divert attention from PPE procurement mismanagement and claimed that the litigation was not genuinely about the gowns or finances. Despite offering to replace the gowns and settle the matter financially, the DHSC opted for a costly legal pursuit against a financially constrained company.
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