How consultants, airlines and China cashed in on PPE scramble
At least £175m of taxpayer money has been spent on consultants - but the true cost is likely to be much higher
22 December 2020 • 3:00pm
As Covid-19 ripped through care homes and communities, junior health minister Lord Bethell came up with a novel way of fighting the relentless stress of the pandemic.
In an effort to buoy spirits, the peer told the House of Lords in May, his cocker spaniel Tilly was accompanying him to the office.
Tilly was not the only outsider to become a fixture at the Department of Health’s Victoria Street headquarters, where teams of private sector consultants spent long hours working on the Government’s coronavirus response.