Lords standards commissioner Akbar Khan ruled that Peter Selwyn Gummer, who sits as Lord Chadlington in the Upper House, had not broken any rules. This was because Gummer had not approached the government directly on behalf of SG Recruitment, which was part of a group in which he was a director and shareholder. The report found that Gummer had passed on to the company’s chief executive, David Sumner, the email address of Lord Feldman, another Tory peer who was then advising the Department of Health and Social Care. After Sumner emailed him on April 21, 2020, Feldman referred SG Recruitment to civil servants who processed the company through the government’s “VIP lane” for politically connected companies. The “high priority” lane made companies 10 times more likely to be awarded Covid contracts than those without political connections, according to a National Audit Office analysis. Just five days later, on April 26, SG Recruitment, then a small company that helped find healthcare staff for the NHS, was awarded a £23.9 million government contract to supply uniforms. The second contract, worth £26.1 million for the supply of hand sanitiser, was awarded on 28 May 2020. The contracts were awarded without tender as the government had suspended normal tendering processes for procurement due to the pandemic emergency. The commissioner’s report did not cite the email from Sumner to Feldman, nor did it say whether Sumner had mentioned Gummer’s name in it or told Feldman that Gummer had an interest in the company. Khan said: “There is no evidence to suggest that the fact that Lord Chandlington [Gummer] provided that Mr Sumner with the email address played any role in the decision to award the two contracts to SG Recruitment UK.’ A spokesman for Khan, asked if he had seen the email from Sumner as part of his inquiry, and if Sumner mentioned Gummer’s name, replied: “The commissioner … was satisfied, based on Lord Chadlington’s account and the corroborating evidence by Lord Feldman of Elstree and the Cabinet Office, that there was no breach [of the Lords code of conduct]. “Mr Sumner’s use of Lord Chandlington’s name in this case was irrelevant to whether Lord Chandlington committed a breach of the code.” Labor peer George Foulkes, who made the original complaint, said the rules needed to be reviewed: “I accept the Commissioner’s decision under the existing code of conduct,” Foulkes said, “but it shows that the code needs a review to to consider more subtle approaches’. Jo Maugham, director of the Good Law Project, which brought a successful legal challenge against the government that resulted in the VIP lane being outlawed, said: “It is difficult to see the approach the commissioner is taking and how it protects the public interest in fair and transparent governance”. Feldman, asked if Sumner mentioned Gummer’s name to him and if that’s why the company was referred to the VIP lane, declined to answer directly. He said: “My only action in relation to the email offer from Mr Sumner was to pass it on to the relevant civil servants who were responsible for the supply of PPE. I played no other role and did not participate in the decision to award the contract.” The Guardian asked Gummer if Sumner had mentioned his name in his email approach to Feldman, or if he had stated that he had an interest and a stake in SG Recruitment’s parent company. The Conservative peer did not respond directly, saying: “There has been a full investigation by the commissioner with whom, as noted, I have co-operated fully and transparently. I share his conclusions. I have nothing more to add on this matter.” Sumner and SG Recruitment did not respond to questions. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST
