Michelle Mone-linked PPE firm evidence to be heard in private, Covid inquiry rules

The chair of the Covid inquiry has ruled that evidence related to PPE Medpro, the firm linked to Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman, will be heard in a closed, private session next month.

On 3 March, the inquiry will begin four weeks of hearings into decisions to buy Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.

Baroness Hallett said she was imposing the restriction as she was satisfied there was a risk of prejudice to criminal proceedings if “sensitive evidence” was heard in public.

Victims’ groups and media outlets, including the BBC, had argued the dangers were overstated, given the early stage of the police investigation and the material already in the public domain.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) opened an investigation into PPE Medpro in May 2021 into suspected criminal offences committed in the procurement of PPE.

The company was awarded government contracts worth more than £200m after Baroness Mone recommended the firm to ministers during the Covid pandemic.

Baroness Mone, 52, and Mr Barrowman, 59, have denied wrongdoing.

In June 2024, the NCA said an unnamed 46-year-old man from Barnet, north London, had been arrested as part of its investigation.

To date, no criminal charges have been brought and the Crown Prosecution Service has not been formally instructed by the NCA.

On 9 December 2024, the Covid inquiry said it had received an application from the NCA for a restriction order, claiming there was a risk of harm to its investigation if sensitive evidence about PPE Medpro was heard in public.

The NCA originally wanted to prevent the inquiry hearing any evidence about the company, saying “other contracts could be selected”.

It then asked for 26 witness statements written by its staff to be withheld, and an order to be made preventing certain questions about the firm to be asked in the inquiry room in a public session.

It argued those restrictions should include the identity of any person under investigation; evidence relating to the opinion of any government official concerning PPE Medpro’s contracts; and evidence about payments to the company and who ultimately benefited.

In its submission, it said there was a “realistic possibility that criminal charges against one or more individuals will flow from the investigation”.

The Department of Health later asked for the terms of any restriction order to be widened to include any “financial material and correspondence” relating to the purchase of PPE from the company, although that request has been rejected by the inquiry.

In her final ruling, Baroness Hallett said it was both “necessary and proportionate” for the Covid inquiry to examine contracts between the government and PPE Medpro.

But she did accept there was a risk of damage to any future criminal proceedings if she allowed all the evidence to be heard in public.

As a result, any sensitive evidence about the company will be heard in a private, closed hearing, expected to be held in late March.

She said the NCA’s original application, which also sought to have members of the press and other organisations excluded from those closed sessions, went “further than necessary” and was “too wide an approach”.

Representatives of five media organisations will be invited to attend but will not be able to report on the proceedings until the conclusion of any criminal case, including possible appeals.

Baroness Hallett said that decision was in line with previous public inquiries, including the investigation into the Novichok poisoning in Salisbury.

A spokesman for the NCA said its investigation into PPE Medpro “remains a priority”.

“In such cases it can take considerable time to ensure that a thorough, independent and objective investigation is conducted,” he added.