The Government is seeking to overturn a High Court finding that a contract given to a company whose founders were friends of former adviser Dominic Cummings was unlawful.
The High Court ruled in June that the Cabinet Office's decision to award a contract to market research firm Public First was unlawful as it gave rise to 'apparent bias'.
The organisation was given a contract for £560,000 in June 2020, for focus groups and other research - including testing public health slogans such as 'Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives'.
Campaigning organisation the Good Law Project brought a case over the links between the firm's founders, Rachel Wolf and James Frayne, and the Prime Minister's former adviser as well as then-Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove.
In the original ruling, Mrs Justice O'Farrell found that the 'apparent bias' was not due to the existing relationships between Mr Cummings and Public First, but because of a failure to consider any other research agency and record the objective criteria used in the selection.
But the Cabinet Office today brought a challenge to the ruling at the Court of Appeal, arguing that the contract was not unlawful.
The Government is seeking to overturn a High Court finding that a contract given to a company whose founders were friends of former adviser Dominic Cummings (pictured) was unlawful. The High Court ruled in June that the Cabinet Office's decision to award a contract to market research firm Public First was unlawful as it gave rise to 'apparent bias'.
Public First, owned and directed by James Frayne (left) and Rachel Wolf (right) was given a contract for £560,000 in June 2020, for focus groups and other research - including testing public health slogans such as 'Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives'.
Its barrister, Sir James Eadie QC, said: 'Context, and the context in which one is asking any questions about apparent bias, is key.'
He told the court it is 'plainly relevant' that the decision to use Public First was made in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
'For obvious reasons, there was a clear and pressing need - as the judge found - for the urgent organisation of focus groups to enable the messaging to be got right at the very outset of the pandemic, with the urgent need to make sure that messaging got out there effectively for the purpose of seeking to save lives,' he said.
Sir James later said the High Court judge was wrong to say the Cabinet Office needed to consider other market research agencies in order to avoid the appearance of bias.
Under the contract awarded by the Government, Public First ran focus groups and provided communications and messaging support for Number 10, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson rolled out policies and restrictions aimed at combating the spread of COVID-19.
A member of the company was also seconded to the government's communications hub to help the organisation liaise with Whitehall and deliver focus group feedback.
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