Government had responsibility to apply ‘basic standards’ to PPE procurement checks, NAO head to say

Michelle Mone has announced she is taking a taking a leave of absence as a peer. Photograph: PA

The government had a responsibility to apply “basic standards” of procurement checks on PPE during the Covid pandemic, the auditor general will say, after scandals over supply, including that involving the peer Michelle Mone.

Gareth Davies, the head of the National Audit Office, said people accepted that some normal processes needed to be suspended in an emergency, such as lengthy tenders for PPE.