Government admits 50 firms were in VIP lane for test and trace contracts

Immensa, the private laboratory in Wolverhampton whose test and trace contract was suspended after 43,000 potential false-negative results, was one of 50 firms in a ‘priority’ lane for such contracts. Photograph: Jacob King/PA

The government has admitted that 50 firms were put in a “priority” lane for securing test and trace contracts worth billions, including Immensa, the company involved in a scandal over 43,000 false negative results.

The UK Health and Security Agency revealed the names of the 50 companies to the Good Law Project, the campaigning organisation that successfully challenged the government’s VIP lane for personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts in the courts.