Coronavirus diary, Saturday 6 June

It is not only the Chancellor of the Exchequer who is spending lavishly - £100 billion this year. The NHS and Health Secretary for England Matt Hancock are just as generous.

Both have perfectly good reasons - the Chancellor, to save jobs and businesses, Mr Hancock, lives. 

Are we getting value for this outpouring of our money?
People seem satisfied with the economic plan but questions are being asked, not of the scale of health spending, but if we are getting value for money. 

Reports suggest that it may not be so. With temporary tendering rules relaxed because of the need for quick action, scores of contracts were handed  to private firms, some of which had never before worked for the government.

Some examples of where the money is going: 
£341 million for PPE - personal protective equipment - needed at very short notice - £421million for the testing project, £34 million for management consultants, £10 million for 'financial advice'. 

According to the Times newspaper, altogether, £1.7 billion has gone in private contracts with one, worth £168 million, awarded to a small family owned pest control company with sixteen employees. £200,000 went to a call centre company to clear a backlog of calls. 

The government said working with the private sector had been a vital part of the response to the coronavirus crisis and that being able to provide supplies, equipment and services at speed had been critical.