Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the monthly cost to the public purse is for storing surplus personal protective equipment in (a) the UK and (b) China; and what proportion of that equipment has been deemed unusable in a healthcare setting.

The Department estimates that the monthly cost of storing surplus personal protective equipment is £7.5 million. While information is collected on storage costs in the United Kingdom and China, a centrally validated estimate for costs in each location is not currently held. As at 26 September 2022, the Department held 1.12 billion items deemed not fit for any purpose.