'Scotland didn't have a Covid PPE VIP lane and we didn't need one'

Former Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman has told the UK Covid inquiry that Scotland didn’t have a VIP lane for PPE procurement and didn’t need one.

The Covid public inquiry began its third week of public hearings looking into the purchase and distribution of billions of pounds’ worth of medical equipment during the pandemic on Monday.

Freeman began her testimony by claiming there was “no evidence” of preferential treatment or bias in any of the PPE contract awards made in Scotland during the pandemic.

She also denied that Scotland had used the “high priority” lane procurement system used to acquire PPE contracts in England.

Introduced in April 2020, the idea of the VIP lane was to treat offers to supply PPE with greater urgency if they came with a recommendation from ministers, MPs, members of the House of Lords, or other senior officials.

“We did not have a VIP lane and we did not need one,” Freeman told the inquiry on Monday.

Freeman said she was aware the UK Foreign Office had instructed embassies to withdraw support from the Scottish Government when negotiating PPE contracts abroad.

She was also aware that PPE suppliers had been instructed to prioritise English healthcare settings over Scotland – even when they were contracted to supply Scottish settings.

She recalled meeting with the UK’s former health secretary Matt Hancock via Zoom and confronting him about the issue.

“I did not expect Mr Hancock to say ‘you are absolutely right, that’s shocking and I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen,'” Freeman told the inquiry.

“However, I was laying marker down to say ‘We are aware of this and we expect you to do something about it.'”

Following the meeting, Freeman said she “never received a formal response” from Hancock.

“If I’m completely frank, I never expected one,” she said.

However, she “double checked” to see if the prioritisation of NHS England over Scotland still appeared to be the case, Freeman said it “appeared to have stopped”.

Freeman was also questioned about the supposed breakdown in the link between supply and distribution for adult social care and primary care settings during the height of the pandemic.

Counsel for the inquiry Tom Stoate asked: “Did Scotland run out of key items of PPE?”

Freeman said: “No. We are saying we did not run out at any point; we often came close.”

She acknowledged there were problems with the rapidly established distribution system, but said issues were resolved as quickly as possible after it was reviewed and overhauled.

Freeman said she didn’t believe Scotland could or should have done anything else to prepare for the pandemic procurement procedures.

“I think for the next pandemic, we are much better placed in understanding the importance of wrapping our arms around – from the outset – all of health and social care settings regardless of the model that might exist,” she said.

She added that lessons had been learnt about avoiding glitches and managing systems better in the future.

The inquiry asked Freeman whether or not she agreed with comments made by former prime minister Boris Johnson that procurement strategies should be UK-wide.

Like former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, Freeman said she did not agree with this.

“If Boris Johnson means we should have single procurement route, I don’t agree with that,” Freeman said.

“I think that removes or undercuts the necessary democratic accountability that devolution demands of a Scottish Government, and I think that is a good thing there is that accountability.”

Asked about the UK Government’s VIP lane procurement procedures in England, Freeman said it was “not a route she would wish Scotland to take”.

“Having a single procurement system if all parties are not equal could lead to a situation where Scottish ministers are accountable for actions over which they had no say and with which they disagreed,” Freeman said.

However, she emphasised that there should be cooperation, exchange of data, and mutual aid among the four nations – which Scotland actively contributed to and benefited from, she said.