Ministers have awarded a small medicinal cannabis research firm contracts worth £33m to supply protective equipment for the NHS.
New documents published earlier this week show the Department of Health and Social Care awarded the two contracts to CannaGrow Biosciences despite the company’s accounts showing it has just £6,000 net assets.
According to its website, the firm specialises in the research of cannabis and its potential use in treating medical conditions.
But despite appearing to have had no prior experience in the supply of PPE, the firm was offered multi-million pound contracts to deliver masks for health and social care staff without the tender being put to a competitive process. The firm, which was incorporated in October 2018, has also never previously been awarded any government contracts.
It comes after a National Audit Office report criticised the government for a lack of transparency over the awarding of contracts after they concluded over £10.5bn in taxpayer money had been handed out without the usual competitive tendering process.
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