Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what financial checks his Department made on PPE Medpro Ltd (a) following its referral to the high priority lane and (b) prior to the award of any contract; and what interests were declared by any party in relation to that company.
Answered by Edward Argar
Due diligence was carried out for all contracts. All offers received a rigorous financial and technical assessment, led by Departmental officials and other Government departments. The Department researched and reported on financial details of companies and background details of company directors and produced reports rating suppliers as red, amber or green.
Departmental records reflect that a link between Baroness Mone and PPE Medpro was clear prior to contracts being awarded.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Kamall on 19 January (HL4883), why they are unable to identify losses on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The Department is seeking to recover monies paid to PPE Medpro in relation to a contract for the provision of gowns. Currently the parties are engaged in mediation and exploring whether it is possible to resolve the matter without formal legal action. The Department has not yet suffered a loss but may do so if it is unable to recover monies from PPE Medpro, either by agreement arising from mediation or pursuant to formal legal action.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any (1) person, or (2) organisation, will be censured for defaults involving the 47 VIP public contracts for facemasks and surgical gowns; and what steps they have taken in connection with defaults associated with their contract with PPE MedPro.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
We have no plans to censure a single individual or organisation. The contract with PPE Medpro is considered commercially sensitive as the Department is currently engaged in a mediation process concerning their products, which involves confidentiality undertakings.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
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 5 January 2021 to Question 81017 on Coronavirus: Protective Clothing, on what grounds this information has been deemed to be commercially sensitive.
Answered by Edward Argar
The information is considered commercially sensitive as the Department is currently engaged in a mediation process with PPE Medpro concerning their products, which involves confidentiality undertakings.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the surgical gowns provided by PPE Medpro for £122 million in 2020 were used by the NHS during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Edward Argar
We are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
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 25 November 2021 to Question 79399 on Coronavirus: Protective Clothing, which four contracts for personal protective equipment referred through the high priority lane were subject to the eight stage assurance process.
Answered by Edward Argar
There were 111 contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE) awarded to 50 suppliers referred through the high priority lane. Some suppliers were awarded more than one contract.
In our previous response of 25 November, we stated that 46 of these contracts were awarded before the introduction of a central clearance board on 4 May 2020. The central clearance board examined individual contracts which were being agreed. Sixty five contracts were awarded to suppliers after this date. The suppliers and the number of contracts awarded to each supplier is shown in the following table.
Supplier | Number of contracts awarded after 4 May 2020 |
Meller Designs | 5 |
Aiya Technology Hk Limited | 3 |
KPM Marine | 1 |
MDS Healthcare | 2 |
P1F Limited | 7 |
Pestfix | 2 |
Aventis Solutions Ltd | 1 |
Cargo Services Far East | 3 |
URATHON EUROPE LTD | 2 |
Unispace Global Ltd | 5 |
Universal Solutions Trading Limited | 3 |
Uniserve | 2 |
Pakan Medical | 2 |
Headwind China Ltd | 1 |
Monarch Acoustics Limited | 1 |
Invisio Pharmaceuticals | 2 |
New Asia Logistic Services Pte Ltd | 1 |
P14 Medical | 1 |
Blueleaf Care | 1 |
Ideal Medical Solutions | 1 |
SG Recruitment | 1 |
Skinny Dip | 1 |
PPE Medpro Limited | 2 |
Brandology | 2 |
Worldlink Resources Limited | 1 |
Summit Medical Ltd | 1 |
Wuhan Xiaoyaoyao Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd | 1 |
Maxima Markets Limited | 1 |
Eyespace Eyewear Limited | 1 |
Mayfair Global (UK) Ltd | 1 |
The Paper Drinking Straw Co Ltd. | 1 |
Hotel Logistics Ltd | 2 |
GBUK LTD | 1 |
CCS McClays | 1 |
Regal Polythene | 1 |
Medicom | 1 |
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what records his Department holds on the referral of PPE Medpro by Baroness Mone to the high priority lane for personal protective equipment supply during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Edward Argar
On 17 November 2021, the Department published information relating to the teams and individuals who referred offers of support that were triaged using the high priority lane. Departmental records indicate that Baroness Mone identified Medpro as a potential supplier on 7 May 2020 and highlighted this opportunity by email on 8 May 2020.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what records his Department holds on the referral of PPE Medpro by Baroness Mone to the high priority lane for personal protective equipment supply during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Edward Argar
On 17 November 2021, the Department published information relating to the teams and individuals who referred offers of support that were triaged using the high priority lane. Departmental records indicate that Baroness Mone identified Medpro as a potential supplier on 7 May 2020 and highlighted this opportunity by email on 8 May 2020.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's publication entitled PPE procurement in the early pandemic, published on 17 November 2021, on what dates the original referrals to the high priority lane were made for (a) Eyespace Eyewear by the Rt hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield, (b) Mazima Markets Ltd by Lord Leigh, (c) Skinnydip Ltd by Lord Leigh, (d) PPE Medpro Ltd by Baroness Mone and (e) SG Recruitment UK Ltd by Lord Chadlington.
Answered by Edward Argar
Departmental records do not show the date where the referral for Eyespace Eyewear was made to the high priority route. However, the company contacted the Rt Hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps MP) on 19 May 2020. The referral of Mazima Markets was made on 1 April 2020, Skinnydip Ltd on 28 March 2020, PPE Medpro Ltd on 8 May 2020, and the referral of SG Recruitment was made on 19 April 2020.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Bethell on 6 January (HL10942 and HL10943), whether those purchases had a combined value of half a billion pounds; and why “Details of such decisions on individual contracts is regarded as commercially sensitive information” remain secret once the purchases have been made; whether they will place in the public domain details of (1) how, (2) why, and (3) by whom, these companies were selected; and if not, why not.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Two contracts have been awarded to PPE Medpro by the Department with a total value of £202 million and seven contracts have been awarded to Purple Surgical by the Department with a total value of £226 million. Information concerning whether any of the personal protective equipment (PPE) has not met the required quality standards or a particular specification, whose fault that is and what should be done about it are regarded as commercially confidential information as this process involves negotiations with the supplier where we may seek a refund or other redress as per the contract terms in these contracts.
In terms of how these suppliers were selected, the Government issued a public call to action to support the increased requirements of PPE. The aim was to reach suppliers who had experience of supplying PPE and also those who had no prior experience but who had access to sources of PPE through their business contacts. This resulted in over 15,000 suppliers offering their help and support, including PPE Medpro and Purple Surgical.
All suppliers were evaluated by Departmental officials on their financial standing, compliance with minimum product specifications and ability to perform the contract. All contracts were awarded by the appropriate accounting officer in line with Departmental policy and procedures.