Controversies regarding COVID-19 contracts in the United Kingdom

Part of a series on the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies
History Responses Legislation Statistics (Part of the global COVID-19 pandemic)
Locations London Countries England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Crown Dependencies Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey British Overseas Territories Anguilla Akrotiri and Dhekelia Bermuda British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Montserrat Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Turks and Caicos Islands Pitcairn Islands British Overseas Territories without confirmed cases British Antarctic Territory South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Timelines United Kingdom January-June 2020 July–December 2020 January-June 2021 July–December 2021 January-June 2022 July-December 2022 2023 2024 England January-June 2020 July–December 2020 2021 2022 Scotland 2020 2021 2022 Wales 2020 2021 2022 Northern Ireland 2020 2021 2022
Key topics Healthcare Vaccination Temporary hospitals COVID passports Responses Government response Contract controversies Lockdown Public inquiry Contact tracing Military (Domestic, Overseas) Impacts Society Economy Education Politics Retail
COVID-19 portal  Category
v t e

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the British government decided in March 2020 to rapidly place contracts and recruit a number of individuals. Shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) were a particular political issue for the second Johnson ministry. This led to the awarding of a number of contracts without a competitive tendering process, and friends of political figures and people who had made political donations were quickly given contracts. As a result, accusations of cronyism were made against the government.