Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the Government has made of the value for money of personal protective equipment procured under covid-19 emergency regulations.

Government Internal Audit Agency analysed prices paid for individual products across the personal protective equipment (PPE) supply chain including 12 contracts in detail and found that there was a proportionate control environment in place that balanced the need to urgently obtain PPE at scale and pace, with the need to secure value for money.

As well as due diligence checks there was systematic price benchmarking. Prices were evaluated against the need for the product, the quantity available, the specification of the product and how quickly it could be delivered.  Many deals were rejected or renegotiated as initial prices offered were not acceptable.