Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total value is of personal protective equipment procured from (a) Pestfix and (b) Ayanda during the covid-19 outbreak that has not been useable by the NHS; and what steps he is taking to recoup funds paid for that unusable equipment.

Pestfix supplied personal protective equipment (PPE) with a value of £169,320,000 which is not currently available for release to the National Health Service due to technical and quality issues. The Department is currently engaged in mediation with Pestfix.

Ayanda supplied PPE with a value of £145,701,240 which is not currently available for release to the NHS due to technical and quality issues. The Department is undertaking a further detailed technical analysis of the product and will consider any commercial options available following conclusion of that review.

Departmental contracts require that it undertakes mediation with its suppliers prior to the commencement of formal legal action, to establish if disputes can be resolved without recourse to litigation.