01 September 2023 , 17:00
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A private healthcare firm awarded a Government contract worth nearly £150,000 donated an almost identical sum to the Tory Party just months later.
Labour has demanded answers after it emerged Yorkshire-based The Phoenix Partnership (TPP) had been handed a contract worth up to £149,866 in July last year. In February the firm gave £11,300 to the Conservatives, and weeks later handed over a further £145,000.
Documents show no other companies were invited to bid for the work, which was awarded by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) last summer. In a statement to The Mirror TPP said the donations should have been made by the chief executive, Frank Hester, not the company - and he's repaid the cash.
Shadow Health Minister Andrew Gwynne fumed: “This is yet another example of a Tory Party mired in sleaze. That a private healthcare company gave the Tory Party hundreds of thousands in donations after receiving a contract with no competition raises serious questions. The Conservatives are busy chucking taxpayers’ money to their donors and cronies, when they should be focused on bringing down record-high NHS waiting lists.
Labour's Andrew Gwynne has called on ministers to explain what happened (Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)"The long Tory tradition of cash for access continues. From Michelle Mone to the Phoenix Partnership - this stinks.” Mr Gwynne has written to Health Secretary Steve Barclay asking why there was no competitive process to award the lucrative contract, and to find out the role ministers played.
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Back in 2018 an error in software made by the company, used by the NHS, led to confidential health data of 150,000 patients being shared. A spokesman from TPP said Mr Hester should have made the donations "in a personal capacity" and said it is "apolitical".
The company said: “TPP strictly follows the guidelines for public sector contracting. In regards to the donations, these should have been made by Frank Hester in his personal capacity rather than through the business. Mr Hester repaid the company in full. For absolute clarity, TPP is unequivocally apolitical.”
TPP has met with Government figures three times since July last year, including a sit-down with Mr Barclay to discuss technology and product developments in healthcare. It hosted former Tory PM David Cameron in the build-up to the 2015 election, when Mr Hester said he was delighted to ask "straight talking Yorkshire questions".
The 2022 contract was awarded to TPP for it to supply data on vaccine uptakes at GP practices in England.
A UKHSA spokesperson said: “All contracts are awarded fairly and transparently in line with strict government protocols which ensure no conflicts of interest.” The Mirror has contacted Tory HQ for comment.
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