Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department investigated the alleged leaking of confidential information to companies bidding for PPE contracts in 2020.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

All offers to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including that from I Love Cosmetics Ltd for hand sanitiser, were evaluated by Departmental officials on the supplier’s financial standing, compliance with minimum product, service and technical specifications and ability to perform the contract. Contracts were awarded by the appropriate Departmental accounting officer in line with the Department’s standard terms and conditions.

The Department is not aware of any allegations regarding the leaking of confidential information to companies offering to supply PPE.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment criteria her Department used when awarding a contract for supply of PPE to ILC UK Ltd in 2020.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

All offers to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including that from I Love Cosmetics Ltd for hand sanitiser, were evaluated by Departmental officials on the supplier’s financial standing, compliance with minimum product, service and technical specifications and ability to perform the contract. Contracts were awarded by the appropriate Departmental accounting officer in line with the Department’s standard terms and conditions.

The Department is not aware of any allegations regarding the leaking of confidential information to companies offering to supply PPE.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department holds on the number of individuals convicted of fraud related to contracts with her Department for the provision of personal protective equipment in the last four years.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

To date, no individuals have been convicted of fraud related to personal protective equipment contracts. Work continues to recover costs wherever possible to ensure taxpayer value for money.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the cost to the NHS of unused personal protective equipment during the covid-19 pandemic; what steps her Department is taking to reclaim those costs; and how much has been reclaimed as of 29 November 2023.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In the face of an unprecedented global pandemic, we had to rapidly increase the volume of personal protective equipment (PPE) and change how we bought it in order to protect the National Health Service, including frontline health and care workers, and save lives. The Department’s most recent published annual report and accounts have already disclosed the cost of providing PPE during the pandemic, and are available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63e50dc0d3bf7f05c8e947a8/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-2022_web-accessible.pdf

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 28 March 2022 to Question 125391 on Bunzl Healthcare: Protective clothing, how much his Department spent on its legal costs for the judicial review in relation to the contract awarded by his Department to Bunzl Healthcare in April 2020.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In total, as of the end of October 2023, the Department has spent £915,071, excluding VAT, in relation to the judicial review regarding the contract awarded by the department to Bunzl Healthcare in April 2020.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 28 March 2022 to Question 125389 on Protective clothing: Procurement, how much his Department has spent on defending legal challenges from the Good Law Project regarding the use of the high priority lane for personal protective equipment contracts; and how much was paid by the Good Law Project towards the Department's costs.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Up to the end of October 2023, the Department has spent £3,884,214 excluding VAT on defending legal challenges from the Good Law Project. £337,000 has been recovered to date from the Good Law Project in costs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government's PPE strategy will be published.

Answered by Will Quince

Imported personal protective equipment (PPE) is now provided by suppliers appointed to NHS Supply Chain’s Single Use PPE framework agreement. Suppliers are appointed following a competitive tender process to ensure value for money. Every product on this framework is assessed, involving work with regulators, safety standards agencies and national experts who agree the safety standards and requirements that products must meet in order to be used in the National Health Service.

From April 2022, responsibility for the operational management for retaining a pandemic stockpile of PPE transferred to NHS Supply Chain. Providers of PPE will be invited to become part of the procurement frameworks which NHS Supply Chain manages, and the current framework agreement includes a number of United Kingdom-based companies.

The Government welcomes commitment from UK-based companies to produce high-quality PPE. UK-based manufacturers are likely to be crucial in the event of another pandemic, particularly in the face of any global supply chain issues.

As of 31 March 2023, there were 12 million items of PPE remaining in storage in China. The remaining stock held in China is in categories of PPE for which the Department has sufficient stock in the UK to meet current demand, and the items were therefore surplus to requirements. In managing down the stock held in China we have made donations to other countries, but selling on surplus stock has not been financially viable for the Department. The remaining items now held in China are therefore being disposed of through incineration, with the aim of enabling an exit from this facility as soon as possible.

The Department wrote to the Public Accounts Committee on 16 March 2023 setting out strategic aims for the Department in relation to PPE, including future supply.
The letter is available at the following link:

https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/34476/documents/189909/default/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the (a) number and (b) value of contracts for personal protective equipment for which his Department (i) has brought and (ii) plans to bring legal action against the supplier due to quality issues; and how many of those suppliers have been excluded from taking part in public procurement.

Answered by Will Quince

The Department has continued to place quarterly update reports in the libraries of both Houses. These reports include information from the Department’s Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Contracts Dissolution Team and provide an update on progress made by the team, with the most recent being placed on 16 March 2023. The March update reported that the Department had reduced the number of contested PPE contracts from 176 to 60, with an associated value at risk reduced from £2.6 billion to £1.6 billion.

The Department has brought one legal action against one supplier for a contract to the value of £122 million. The other contested contracts are currently under investigation and may or may not result in legal proceedings. Procurement exclusion decisions are made on a case-by-case basis against the criteria set out in Regulation 57 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and are taken by contracting authorities when bidders have applied to participate in a procurement exercise.

The supplier against which legal action has been taken by the Department has not participated in any subsequent procurement exercises undertaken by the Department, and therefore no exclusion has been exercised.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2023 to Question 104233 on NHS: Protective Clothing, if he will list the (a) consultancy and (b) legal firms which were contracted as part of the personal protective equipment programme.

Answered by Will Quince

Consultancy firms contracted by the Department as part of the personal protective equipment programme are:

• 4C Associates Ltd;

• Accenture UK Ltd;

• Atamis Ltd;

• Bramble Hub Ltd previously Bramble CC Ltd;

• BSI Standard Ltd;

• Chanzo Ltd;

• Clarion Interpreting Ltd;

• Deloitte;

• Efficio Ltd;

• Ernst And Young;

• Global Connections (Scotland) Ltd;

• Insight Executive Group;

• Prestige Network Ltd;

• Pricewaterhousecooper LLP;

• The Kings Fund;

• Velindre NHS Trust; and

• McKinsey and Co Inc UK.

Legal firms contracted by the Department as part of the personal protective equipment programme are:

• Burges Salmon;

• TLT;

• DAC Beachcrift; and

• Pinsent Mason.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2022 to Question 104233 on NHS: Protective Clothing, what percentage of the 176 personal protective equipment programme contracts that his Department are examining have had funds recovered as of 18 January 2023.

Answered by Will Quince

The Department recently placed a note in the libraries of both Houses providing an update on progress made by the Contract Dissolution Team.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2022 to Question on NHS: Protective Clothing, whether his Department plans to take steps to ship these units of personal protective equipment to the UK.

Answered by Will Quince

There are no current plans to do so.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they will notify parliament about money returned to public funds by defaulting suppliers of personal protective equipment if individual settlements are protected by commercial secrecy rules.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In my remarks of 30 November 2022 in response to Baroness Smith of Basildon, Volume 825, column 1785, I committed to place further information on the money returned to the taxpayer to date in the Libraries of both Houses. While we cannot currently report on ongoing discussions with providers of personal protective equipment deemed as unsatisfactory, we will do so where these engagements have concluded. Officials are currently collating and validating this information and determining how Parliament can be regularly informed of progress in future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to provide (1) transparency, and (2) accountability, concerning money returned to public funds by defaulting suppliers of personal protective equipment.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In my remarks of 30 November 2022 in response to Baroness Smith of Basildon, Volume 825, column 1785, I committed to place further information on the money returned to the taxpayer to date in the Libraries of both Houses. While we cannot currently report on ongoing discussions with providers of personal protective equipment deemed as unsatisfactory, we will do so where these engagements have concluded. Officials are currently collating and validating this information and determining how Parliament can be regularly informed of progress in future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to report any money returned to public funds from suppliers of defective personal protective equipment

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In my remarks of 30 November 2022 in response to Baroness Smith of Basildon, Volume 825, column 1785, I committed to place further information on the money returned to the taxpayer to date in the Libraries of both Houses. While we cannot currently report on ongoing discussions with providers of personal protective equipment deemed as unsatisfactory, we will do so where these engagements have concluded. Officials are currently collating and validating this information and determining how Parliament can be regularly informed of progress in future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on consultants for the personal protective equipment programme, including costs associated with the resolution of disputed contracts, between January 2020 to November 2022.

Answered by Will Quince

The Department has spent £26.5 million on consultancy and legal costs for all aspects of the personal protective equipment programme, including costs associated with the resolution of legal contracts from April 2020 to November 2022. The programme was established in April 2020, therefore the information requested prior to this date is not held.

At the start of quarter one 2022, examination of contracts where there was some degree of dissatisfaction related to 176 contracts of 394 in total that the Department made. We are on course to recover significant funds through this programme of work.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2022 to Question 78673 on NHS: Protective Clothing, what proportion of the 7.4 billion items of personal protective equipment stored in warehouses in the UK is damaged or unusable; and what the daily cost is of the storage of those 7.4 billion items.

Answered by Will Quince

As of 24 October 2022, there were 7.7 billion items of personal protective equipment (PPE) stored in United Kingdom warehouses, of which 467 million items or 6.1% were not fit for use. The daily cost of storing PPE in UK warehouses is estimated to be £371,000.