07 September 2023 , 13:46
745
0
A private healthcare boss whose company was awarded a six-figure Government contract has donated £5million to Tory Party coffers.
Frank Hester, chief executive of The Phoenix Partnership (TPP), gave the largest individual donation to any political party between April and June this year. He handed over the cash to the Conservatives in May, figures from the Electoral Commission confirm.
Last week The Mirror reported that TPP was awarded a contract worth up to £149,866 by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in July 2022. In the following months the company, which specialises in software used in the healthcare sector, donated an almost identical sum to the Tories. Documents show no other companies were invited to bid for the work.
In February the firm gave £11,300 to the Tories, and weeks later handed over a further £145,000. Labour has called for an investigation into the decision to award the UKHSA contract.
The Yorkshire-based company later said that the sums should have been a private donation by Mr Hester, and he had paid back the cash. Labour has called for an investigation into the contract, which no other companies were able to tender for.
'UK's most neglected street with post-apocalyptic scenes like The Last of Us'
Information released by the Electoral Commission today shows this is the first personal donation made by Mr Hester, while the combined £156,300 this year are the only donations from TPP. Neither TPP nor Tory HQ responded to requests for fresh comment.
Last week Labour's Shadow Health Minister Andrew Gwynne fumed: “This is yet another example of a Tory Party mired in sleaze. That a private healthcare company gave the Tory Party hundreds of thousands in donations after receiving a contract with no competition raises serious questions.
"The Conservatives are busy chucking taxpayers’ money to their donors and cronies, when they should be focused on bringing down record-high NHS waiting lists. The long Tory tradition of cash for access continues."
Mr Gwynne has written to Health Secretary Steve Barclay asking why there was no competitive process to award the lucrative contract, and to find out the role ministers played. A spokesman from TPP said Mr Hester should have made the donations "in a personal capacity" and said it is "apolitical".
The company said: “TPP strictly follows the guidelines for public sector contracting. In regards to the donations, these should have been made by Frank Hester in his personal capacity rather than through the business. Mr Hester repaid the company in full. For absolute clarity, TPP is unequivocally apolitical.”
TPP has met with Government figures three times since July last year, including a sit-down with Mr Barclay to discuss technology and product developments in healthcare. It hosted former Tory PM David Cameron in the build-up to the 2015 election, when Mr Hester said he was delighted to ask "straight talking Yorkshire questions".
The 2022 contract was awarded to TPP for it to supply data on vaccine uptakes at GP practices in England. A UKHSA spokesman said: “All contracts are awarded fairly and transparently in line with strict government protocols which ensure no conflicts of interest.” The Mirror has contacted Tory HQ for comment.
* Follow Mirror Politics on Snapchat, Tiktok, Twitter and Facebook.