Alun Cairns: Call for probe into contract to firm that hired Tory MP

There have been calls for an investigation into how a Welsh company that hired the former Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns as a senior paid advisor secured a UK government contract.

Welsh Lib Dem Jane Dodds made the call after reports that BBI Group was part of a consortium which won a major contract for lateral flow antibody tests the month after hiring Mr Cairns.

The consortium had already won one UK government contract before the hiring.

Mr Cairns was asked for comment.

He declares the role in Parliament's Register of Members' Financial Interests, where he reports that he receives £15,000 a year for up to 70 hours work.

BBI Group is one of three firms he is recorded working for.

The rules of Parliament allow MPs to take up paid consultancies among other second jobs.

Concern has grown over the issue following the aborted attempt by the UK government to block the suspension of an MP found to have broken lobbying rules.

Jane Dodds, the Liberal Democrat member of the Welsh Parliament, also called for the publication of correspondence relating to the awarding of the contract.

She said: "Public money should always go to the best companies, not those with friends in high places or who can afford to pay a Conservative MP for exclusive access.

"We need an urgent investigation into how this contract was awarded, including the publication of the communications of all those involved."

Alun Cairns was appointed as a senior adviser to the board of the Crumlin-based BBI Group on 1 July 2020.

Prior to Mr Cairns' appointment, in June 2020, BBI Group was part of the UK Rapid Test Consortium, led by Abingdon Health, which was awarded a £10m contract to develop a Covid antibody test.

The UK government then awarded the consortium a second contract in August 2020 to provide a million Covid lateral flow antibody tests, with the possibility of further purchases subject to regulatory approval.

Both contracts were awarded without a competitive tender process being followed.

Ministers said this was because of the urgency required in tackling the Coronavirus pandemic.

Later that year a study suggested the accuracy of the tests was not as good as previously thought and the medicines regulator did not approve the tests for domestic use by an agreed deadline, leading the UK government to change procurement strategy.

The Good Law Project has been granted permission to seek judicial review of the way the contracts were awarded.

Alun Cairns is one of a few dozen MPs who declare paid consultancies in the Parliamentary register.

In addition to the contract with BBI Group he also works for:

Mr Cairns states that for all three jobs he consulted ACOBA, the body which advises former ministers on whether jobs they take after leaving government comply with "business appointment rules".

In the letter of advice on the BBI job, ACOBA says: "Given your role and profile as a former secretary of state, there is an inherent risk it could be perceived your contacts might assist BBI Group unfairly."

ACOBA goes on to impose conditions on Mr Cairns work for the company "to make it clear it would be inappropriate to use your contacts gained in government/Whitehall to BBI Group's unfair advantage; or to advise them in relation to any UK government bids or contracts".

There is no evidence that Alun Cairns was involved in the awarding of the contract or the process by which it was awarded.

BBI Group declined to comment.

Alun Cairns resigned as Welsh Secretary in 2019 over claims - which he denied - that he knew about a former aide's role in the collapse of a rape trial.