'Vast' amounts of taxpayers' money were wasted during the pandemic, with £10 billion squandered on PPE supplies, the Covid inquiry has found.​Baroness Heather Hallett, chairman of the UK Covid-19 inquiry, said that the UK was 'simply not ready to compete' in the global race to secure healthcare equipment in early 2020.​The chair found dwindling stockpiles of PPE combined with an over-reliance on China to provide the majority of the UK's masks, coveralls and eye protection left the country in a 'perilous state'.Only a third of the 3.8million masks held in England were usable by April 2020 leaving nurses, doctors and care workers using 'bin bags', 'shower caps' and products bought off Amazon to try to protect themselves.Meanwhile ministers and officials were forced to improvise in a 'Wild West' scramble to find supplies. As a result, of the £14.9billion spent on PPE, nearly two thirds was wasted by overbuying and purchasing faulty equipment.The chair also examined the so-called 'VIP lane', known officially as the high priority lane, which was used for awarding Government contracts for emergency supplies.The controversial policy was introduced in April 2020 to prioritise offers to supply PPE if the companies had been recommended by ministers, MPs, peers or other senior officials.But the system was met with a backlash, with some arguing the then-Conservative Government was able to secure major deals without being fully scrutinised.While the inquiry did not identify cronyism or corruption among ministers or officials, Lady Hallett concluded the system was, although unintentional, 'inherently biased, favouring those with connections to the Government'. Taxpayers' money was wasted during the pandemic, with £10 billion squandered on PPE supplies, the Covid inquiry has found. Pictured: NHS workers in PPE taking a patient to hospital in April 2020 The Covid Inquiry is established and funded by the government but led by an independent chair, former Court of Appeal judge Baroness Heather Hallett (pictured) The report found that, of the 32 people who referred successful offers to the VIP lane, 15 had a connection with the Conservative Party and none came from any other party, although politicians from other parties were referred to it.As a result, this eroded public trust and damaged the reputation of those involved in the pandemic. The inquiry concluded the 'VIP lane' system, which accounted for £4.2 billion of the Government's PPE contracts, should not be used again.Despite the report ruling that there was no favourtism, bereaved relatives hit out at the High Priority Lane system calling it 'a textbook case of corruption and cronyism'.Naomi Fulop, from Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, said: 'No other country in the world created a VIP Lane. It was a deliberate and shameful choice.'It was a hidden route that gave anybody who knew the right people access to huge amounts of public money, with little to no oversight or transparency. The result was that a few people got richer, while PPE didn't get to those who needed it.'The VIP Lane led to PPE procurement being less effective and more expensive. Ten billion pounds, two thirds of money spent on PPE, was wasted.'The rapid search to find ventilators for patients with failing lungs was also said to have suffered from global supply issues, with 'opportunistic' businesses trying to gain contracts.One Department of International Trade told the inquiry: 'Speculators, opportunistic intermediaries and individuals had piled in, trading up prices exponentially … We had entered a ventilator procurement 'Wild West'.'In a statement, Lady Hallett said: 'When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the world entered a desperate race to secure vital healthcare equipment and supplies.'In the global battle to procure equipment and supplies, the UK was simply not ready to compete - the bodies responsible were caught off-guard, with inadequate and untested plans to increase emergency procurement and distributions rapidly.'The waste of the taxpayers' money was vast. The public must be able to trust their money is being spent with propriety, fairness and transparency. Public confidence - so important in an emergency - was undermined by the failures of procurement.'Following the report The Taxpayers Alliance called for a 'radical overhaul of emergency procurement systems' and for ministers to 'claw back the cash wherever possible'.A spokesperson added: 'Taxpayers will be sickened to learn that the government has wasted £10bn on PPE while failing to protect healthcare staff.'This is the inevitable result of a bloated public sector that refuses to stress-test its own plans, only to then panic and raid the pockets of hard-working Brits.'Lady Hallett made 11 recommendations in total, including overhauling the UK's supply chain for emergency provisions and testing plans before the next pandemic.She said healthcare equipment needs to be treated as a key national asset and that there should be both an international and domestic industrial strategy for supplying healthcare equipment.Other recommendations included digitalising procurement and distribution systems within the next three years using real-time data as well as improving the management of PPE stockpiles.Lady Hallett added: 'The country cannot repeat the mistakes of the past.'Despite the failings today's report did highlight the achievements of the British Army in providing vital logistic expertise as well as the UK's life science and advanced manufacturing sectors for their continued help.The report did not include evidence on PPE firm Medpro, which was ordered to repay £148 million to the Government after the High Court found it had breached a contract to supply millions of surgical gowns to the government.The firm, linked to Conservative Baroness Lady Michelle Mone via her husband Doug Barrowman, has been the subject of a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation since 2021 over its supply of PPE during the pandemic.And while the Covid inquiry has heard evidence relating to Medpro, it was excluded from today's report due to the ongoing investigation.Both Lady Mone, 54, and Mr Barrowman, 61, deny wrongdoing.PPE Medpro, a consortium led by Mr Barrowman, was awarded government contracts worth more than £200 million to supply personal protective equipment after Lady Mone recommended it to ministers.But the firm found itself at the centre of the controversy over so-called 'VIP lane' contracts granted to some suppliers during the pandemic.Despite being ordered to repay £148 million by the High Court, the company was wound up last year, meaning the Government is unlikely to see most of that money.Baroness Hallett said she would not risk prejudicing legal proceedings by publishing any findings on the contract awarded to PPE Medpro.In a statement following the reports release, she said: 'I have examined the award of contracts to particular suppliers.'One of these is PPE Medpro Ltd, which is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. It is not this inquiry's role to determine criminal or civil liability.'My findings about the process leading to contracts being awarded to PPE Medpro Ltd will be published in due course – but only once any legal proceedings have been concluded, to avoid any prejudice to the investigation.'A Downing Street spokeswoman added: 'Today's report obviously makes for difficult reading, and we're grateful to Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough and important work on these issues.'The pandemic had a profound and lasting impact across our society, and this Government is committed to learning the lessons of the Covid Inquiry so that we are protected and prepared for the future.'And we will, of course, carefully consider the inquiry's recommendations in detail, and we will respond in due course.'The Covid-19 inquiry was launched in June 2022 by Boris Johnson and covers decision making made by the Government, as well as administrations in Scotland and Wales, throughout the pandemic. The first public hearings took place in June 2023.The inquiry is the most expensive to take place in British history costing more than £192million in three years.