Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they received from the Welsh Government concerning the possible redirection of a contract placed by the NHS in Wales with the Roche company, for equipment relevant to the coronavirus pandemic, for use by the NHS in England; and what is their policy relating to such matters.

The response to COVID-19 is a national effort and we are committed to working closely with the devolved administrations to align and coordinate testing efforts, where possible. This includes ensuring Wales receives its fair share of proprietary test kits.

In March 2020, Roche Diagnostics UK approached the United Kingdom Government to advise that it had a newly licensed COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which would shortly be available for use in the UK. Initial weekly test availability was 35,000 for the United Kingdom. Public Health England was commissioned by the UK Government to establish a public-private partnership with Roche to deliver this and it was agreed that it would be a UK-wide solution. This new and additional capability has enabled Wales to deliver over 28,000 PCR tests.