Permission granted – we’re going to court

Back in August, we announced that together with a cross-party group of MPs – Caroline Lucas (Green), Debbie Abrahams (Labour) and Layla Moran (LibDem) – we were launching legal action against Government for its persistent and unlawful failure to disclose details of COVID-related contracts. 

We are now pleased to announce that our judicial review has been granted permission by the court. The hearing is scheduled for 3 February 2021.

Despite Government’s attempt to argue that we had no standing to bring the claim, the Judge agreed there is an important public interest in securing that Government abides by the law and its own public procurement policy. 

Government is required by law to publish contract details within 30 days of the award. But the average length of time taken to publish COVID-19 contracts now stands at a remarkable 78 days, with over £4billion worth of contracts totally unaccounted for.

The Government’s repeated refusal to come clean has left us – along with cross-party MPs Debbie Abrahams, Caroline Lucas and Layla Moran – no option but to compel the Government to come clean through the courts.

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