Serco boss defends its work on setting up NHS test-and-trace system

Rupert Soames says criticism largely motivated by ideology amid calls for £45.8m contract to be cancelled

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The boss of the outsourcing firm Serco has defended its “extraordinary” work in setting up the NHS coronavirus test-and-trace system, amid calls for the £45.8m contract to be cancelled.

Critics of Serco’s involvement have pointed to its mixed record on public works, the use of subcontractors and a blunder last month in which it inadvertently revealed the email addresses of contract tracers recruited to assist in the UK government’s “test, track and trace” strategy.

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