Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have procured any latex gloves from Top Glove in the last 12 months; and if so, (1) what assessment they have made of the wages paid to Top Glove workers, and (2) whether they have taken any steps to avoid further procurement from Top Glove.

NHS Supply Chain, the main provider of consumables and equipment into the National Health Service, have led on the procurement of gloves. They approached all suppliers awarded onto their framework contracts during October 2019 requesting confirmation as to whether any of the gloves supplied to NHS Supply Chain were sourced from Top Glove. Two suppliers initially responded at the end of 2019 that they have used Top Glove but have since advised they no longer source gloves from Top Glove for supply to the NHS. This means none of their awarded framework suppliers are now supplying NHS Supply Chain with gloves manufactured by Top Glove.

The Department has not directly procured from Top Glove but has been supplied small quantities of gloves from Top Glove through a handful of intermediary suppliers. The Department has since engaged with these suppliers to understand their modern-day slavery policies. The Department itself has no plans to award further contracts for gloves.