Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of profiteering on the supply of personal protective equipment during the covid-19 outbreak.

The United Kingdom is paying the market rate for medical supplies and working with partners to ensure a fair international market for access to COVID-19 medical equipment.

Personal protective equipment prices can be affected by a range of factors, such as market conditions and air freight costs, but we are taking a number of steps to reduce inflated prices and we expect each wholesaler to apply their normal margins and levels of profit for these types of products.