A company associated with Baroness Mone is required to repay the government more than £121 million for breaching a contract related to Covid PPE. PPE Medpro, assigned to deliver 25 million surgical gowns during the pandemic, faced a lawsuit from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) over claims of supplying substandard goods. Following a High Court ruling, the firm, led by Baroness Mone’s husband Doug Barrowman, was given a two-week deadline to pay nearly £122 million. The consortium secured government contracts under the previous Tory government, with Baroness Mone endorsing it to ministers while she was on a leave of absence from the House of Lords. Both parties have denied any wrongdoing.

In response to the verdict, Chancellor Rachel Reeves emphasized the government’s intention to recover the funds and allocate them to essential sectors such as schools, the NHS, and communities. The government’s legal representatives argued that the DHSC should be reimbursed the £121 million for the contract along with additional costs for transporting and storing the items, totaling over £8.6 million. Conversely, the company’s lawyers contended that PPE Medpro was unfairly targeted and blamed the government for the gowns’ alleged defects post-delivery.

The court proceedings unveiled that the DHSC demanded repayment of the £121,999,219.20 paid to PPE Medpro in 2020 after rejecting the gowns due to quality concerns. The company, in turn, filed for administration as the dispute escalated. Despite Baroness Mone’s involvement in the initial negotiations, the case primarily revolved around contractual compliance rather than any misconduct. The court ruling favored the DHSC’s claim that the gowns were unsuitable for their intended use, leading to the repayment order. Mr. Barrowman criticized the judgement, asserting a biased outcome against PPE Medpro.

Baroness Mone, in a recent statement, expressed feeling unfairly targeted in the PPE scandal, asserting that the case was politically motivated to divert attention from procurement mismanagement issues. She highlighted rejected settlement offers made by PPE Medpro before the trial and criticized the DHSC’s decision to pursue costly litigation despite knowing the company’s financial constraints.