The Department’s COVID-19 pandemic procurement highlighted the importance of achieving transparency in respect of how it identifies and manages declarations of interests. A considerable amount of taxpayers’ money was spent on products from new suppliers, including those with no previous experience of supplying certain Department of Health and Social Care 2020–21 Annual Report and Accounts 7 types of products, increasing the risk that the Department entered into contracts where conflicts of in...

The Department’s COVID-19 pandemic procurement highlighted the importance of achieving transparency in respect of how it identifies and manages declarations of interests. A considerable amount of taxpayers’ money was spent on products from new suppliers, including those with no previous experience of supplying certain Department of Health and Social Care 2020–21 Annual Report and Accounts 7 types of products, increasing the risk that the Department entered into contracts where conflicts of interest existed. The Department’s existing processes for collating and assessing potential related parties and related party transactions did not provide Type: conclusion | Number: 5 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 5: PAC conclusion: The Department’s COVID-19 pandemic procurement highlighted the importance of achieving transparency in respect of how it identifies and manages declarations of interests. 5: PAC recommendation: The Department should maintain and improve accountab