Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their paper Review of risk of modern slavery and human trafficking in the NHS supply chain, published on 14 December 2023, and specifically their assessment of human rights violations in Xinjiang, whether an assessment was made of the number of people at risk of forced organ harvesting.

The United Kingdom is committed to tackling the issue of Uyghur forced labour in supply chains, and is taking robust action. We have introduced new guidance on the risks of doing business in Xinjiang, enhanced export controls, and announced the introduction of financial penalties under the Modern Slavery Act. The Procurement Act, which received Royal Assent in 2023, will enable public sector contracting authorities to reject bids and terminate contracts with suppliers which are known to use forced labour themselves or anywhere in their supply chain.

The review, which examined the NHS Supply Chain's supplier base, primarily focussed on medical devices and consumables. It did not specifically address the risk of forced organ harvesting because the National Health Service does not engage with supply chains from China for the procurement of human organs.