UK PPE contracts audit: findings and recovery status

What the audit found

The NAO's 2020 procurement audit examined emergency contracts awarded across government. It found that direct awards were permitted under procurement rules, but documentation, conflict checks and publication were incomplete in parts of its sample ¹.

The 2022 PPE investigation recorded expected spending of £13.1 billion on almost 38 billion items. The department was managing 176 contracts where it believed full value might not be achieved, with an estimated £2.7 billion at risk ².

The 2022 report examined a risk-based sample of 36 contracts worth an initial £1.8 billion. It was a factual investigation of stock and contract management, not a value-for-money conclusion on every supplier or contract ².

The official response

The department told the Public Accounts Committee that it was pursuing disputes, checking stock, reducing storage costs and developing a PPE strategy. It said Supply Chain Coordination Limited took over programme responsibility in April 2022 ³.

The government's November 2022 response accepted or partly accepted the committee's recommendations. It set out work on stock data, disposal, dispute resolution, due diligence, fraud assessment and lessons for future emergency procurement ⁴.

Parliament

The Public Accounts Committee published its report on 20 July 2022 after taking evidence from departmental officials. It examined stock management, contractual disputes, fraud controls, due diligence and the transfer of responsibilities ³.

The committee recorded 3.9 billion items above forecast need, at least 1 billion items classed as waste, and 176 supplier disputes worth £3.9 billion at the time of its inquiry. These figures describe the 2022 position, not the final outcome of every contract ³.

Follow-up audits and recommendations

The department's 2023-24 accounts recorded cumulative fruitless payments of £3.31 billion and cumulative constructive losses of £4.78 billion for PPE. Some recovery action on disputed contracts was still in progress ⁵.

The 2024-25 accounts received a clean audit opinion on the departmental financial statements and regularity. That opinion covers the accounts as a whole and does not close each PPE contract dispute or the earlier programme recommendations ^6,7.

Courts, tribunals and investigations

The department's 2024-25 accounts record that the High Court ordered PPE Medpro in October 2025 to repay £122 million to the government under a contract for surgical gowns ⁶.

That civil judgment concerns one contract. It does not decide the NAO's portfolio-wide findings or establish a criminal offence by every supplier in the programme ^2,6.

Where it stands now

The latest departmental accounts reviewed for this page cover the year to 31 March 2025 and later events disclosed before publication. They record continued contract recovery work and the PPE Medpro judgment ⁶.

The 2022 audit covered a broad programme with thousands of contracts. No single official record closes every dispute and recommendation, so the case remains classified as recovery and litigation continuing ^2,46.

Timeline