Conservative peer Peter Gummer, known as Lord Chadlington, has announced his departure from the House of Lords after an investigation by standards commissioner Martin Jelley found he committed five breaches of conduct related to COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) deals and failed to cooperate with prior inquiries. The findings highlight ongoing scrutiny of government procurement practices during the pandemic.

Jelley determined that Chadlington breached three rules of the House of Lords code of conduct by: introducing SG Recruitment, a company in which he had a financial interest, to the government in April 2020 as a potential PPE supplier for the NHS; having contact with then Health Secretary Matt Hancock; and providing further advice to the company. These actions violated the prohibition on peers profiting from their parliamentary membership through payments or incentives for services.

Additionally, Chadlington was found to have committed two further breaches, including failing to “act on his personal honour” by not cooperating with two previous investigations that had cleared him. As a result, he received a 12-month suspension, upheld by the conduct committee after an appeal, marking one of the harshest penalties for peer misconduct. In response, Chadlington stated he would retire from the Lords and quit the Conservative Party.

SG Recruitment, a small, loss-making agency, was awarded £50 million in PPE contracts within weeks through the then Conservative government’s “VIP lane” for politically connected individuals. However, the company went into liquidation in December 2023, owing £1.1 million in taxes to HMRC. The Department of Health and Social Care rejected all PPE supplied under the first contract as “unusable,” despite having paid the company £24 million, raising questions about the efficacy and oversight of pandemic-era spending.

The investigation, prompted by complaints from the Covid Bereaved Families for Justice group, is the third into Chadlington’s role in introducing SG Recruitment to the government. Evidence from the COVID-19 inquiry, including published texts and emails, revealed Chadlington sought advice from former Prime Minister David Cameron, who provided contacts with Andrew Feldman, an advisor on PPE procurement. Chadlington then emailed SG Recruitment’s owner to facilitate an introduction, a fact he omitted from earlier standards inquiries, which the conduct committee deemed a failure of diligence.

Source: www.theguardian.com