GSD dismisses Govt’s ‘feeble’ defence of healthcare contracts, as No.6 says Opposition ‘twists’ audit findings

The GSD on Tuesday dismissed the Government’s “feeble defence” of healthcare contracts to MedDoc worth £4.8m which were probed by the Principal Auditor in his recently published report.

Earlier this week the GSD called on the Gibraltar Government to make a statement to Parliament about issues raised by the Principal Auditor relating to the award of the contracts, who concluded tender provisions had “not been adhered to from the beginning to the end of the process”.

The Opposition said the findings raised “very significant issues of good governance and transparency”.

The Gibraltar Government had insisted in response that the contracts followed “a competitive tender process and detailed negotiations” conducted by government officials seeking value for money for taxpayers.

But in a statement on Tuesday, the Opposition said the breaches of the rules and processes had only surfaced because of an in-depth investigation by the Principal Auditor.

“It has only come to light now because Mr Picardo has been engineering delays so that the Principal Auditor could not deliver his reports in a timelier way,” the Opposition said in a statement.

“Otherwise these issues would have been known before the last election.”

“What other truths on other financial dealings were buried by the GSLP/Libs before the last election?”

“The issues could not have been discovered from looking at the estimates or from questions to ministers because the key information is simply not disclosed in the budget book and ministers - including the Chief Minister - are not forthcoming about their non-compliance or [at] this level of detail.”

“From looking at the Principal Auditor’s report it is quite obvious how agonizing and painstaking the extraction of information from the GSLP/Libs Government is.”

“It is clear that in some cases the Government have been quite obstructive with his enquiries.”

“It seems that the best that the GSLP/Libs can do is protest that the MedDoc contracts were the best prices obtainable.”

“Of course, that is in stark contrast to the findings of the Principal Auditor.”

In probing all three contracts, the Principal Auditor said he had been unable to establish whether tender requirements for large public contracts had been complied with, or whether MedDoc’s bids were the most competitive.

The Principal Auditor said there were no signed formal contracts in place for any of the three healthcare tenders which were coordinated by the GHA and the Care Agency instead of by the Procurement Office.

The GSD also accused the Chief Minister of resorting to “red herrings” to defend himself, a reference to a statement in which the Government had highlighted a £1bn contract awarded by the GSD while in office “with no tender process whatsoever”.

“His widening of issues to allegations of a past unspecified direct allocation will do him no favours,” the Opposition said.

“Has he forgotten the ‘£2.5 billion’ Eastside tender that he awarded to an entity that had not participated in the tender process and did not even exist when the expressions of interest process closed?”

“Or the other direct allocations on lucrative plots carried out by his Government?”

“His protestations that the tender process is better than ever is laughable.”

“Mr Picardo’s weak attempts at distraction will not be lost on anyone.”

“The main point here is that he is presiding over a Government that indulges in suspect processes while pretending otherwise and then obstructs the auditors so that politically damaging facts do not emerge at election time.”

GOVT REACTS

Last night, No.6 said the GSD “continued to Opposition manipulate” the report of the Principal Auditor in order to “mislead and confuse” public opinion.

“The plain fact is that all such reports since time immemorial have highlighted issues of value for money and pointed out where savings could be made or where things could have been done differently,” No.6 said in a statement reacting to the GSD.

“This is not new to the 2016-2018 reports. All reports are written in the same tone and serve the same function.”

“The contents of a value for money audit is precisely what it says on the tin.”

“The difference is that this time the Opposition have sought to twist the findings for their own political ends.”

“The Government will therefore continue to defend its political record and the administrative record of the many public and civil servants who can be identified from it.”

“It is important to bear in mind that some of the issues identified have already been debated years ago during meetings of Parliament and outside those meetings.”

“Indeed, there have been two general elections in between where such issues were already given a good airing.”

“The Government therefore roundly condemns the political posturing of Mr Azopardi and the financial nit-picking of Mr Clinton and the unacceptable manner in which they have attempted to politicise this question.”