Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many active court cases his Department is defending itself against regarding the high priority lane for personal protective equipment.
Answered by Edward Argar
There have been legal challenges brought in relation to seven contracts with two suppliers that were processed through the high priority lane. These challenges have been dismissed in court and permission to appeal has so far been refused.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) number and (b) proportion of PPE items purchased or procured by the Government are that have been manufactured by UK based companies.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Government has ordered 3.9 billion items of personal protective equipment (PPE) from United Kingdom manufacturers. This represents 10.7% of all PPE ordered since the start of the pandemic. UK manufacturers have the capacity currently to meet the estimated future demand for PPE in the UK, for all categories except gloves.
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 13 July 2021 to Question 25834 on Coronavirus: Protective Clothing, how many contracts for the supply of personal protective equipment pre-dated the formalised eight stage assurance process; and what was the total cost of those contracts to the public purse.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The National Audit Office (NAO) published a report on Government procurement activity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in November last year. The report is available at the following link:
https://www.nao.org.uk/report/government-procurement-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
The report noted (Paragraph 3.19) that by 28 April 2020, personal protective equipment contracts had been awarded to 71 suppliers, with a total value of £1.5 billion, i.e. before offers were being processed through what the NAO have described as the eight stage process. Bunzl Healthcare were one of these suppliers.
The ‘eight stage process’ is a term to describe at a point in time a structured process of checks and due diligence on suppliers which evolved in March and April 2020. It includes the introduction of a central clearance board at the beginning of May 2020 to perform checks previously performed by the Department’s Accounting Officer to add an extra level of assurance that the deal met the Department’s requirements. However, from the start all suppliers were evaluated by officials on financial standing, technical compliance and ability to perform the contract.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
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 15 March 2021 to Question 165584, if he will publish by (a) constituency and (b) volume where that personal protective equipment was manufactured.
Answered by Jo Churchill
We do not hold collated and validated data on the location within the United Kingdom where personal protective equipment (PPE) was manufactured. We have published the overall volume of PPE sourced from UK manufacturing for the three months from 1 December 2020 which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on (a) items of clothing, (b) uniform and (c) personal protective clothing in each year since 2015.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence has a number of contracts for clothing, uniforms and personal protective clothing with a number of suppliers, but also procures items through local procurement arrangements. Details of the spend on items of clothing, uniform and personal protective clothing in each year since 2015 are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of personal protective equipment purchased by the Govenrment was manufactured in the UK in each month in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Government’s personal protective equipment (PPE) strategy published in September said that by 1 December 2020, United Kingdom manufacturers would be able to provide 70% of the PPE we expected to use in England through the winter, for all items except gloves. That commitment was met and exceeded. The volume of UK manufactured PPE supplied in the three months from 1 December 2020 to 28 February 2021 was sufficient to meet 82% of the amount needed over that time period. Data prior to December is not available in a fully validated form.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 2 December to Question 119401, if he will publish the number of 3M Aura 9332+ Respirator with Valve masks ordered from Purple Surgical on 28 April 2020.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The contract award notices and contracts awarded to Purple Surgical have been published. Information concerning pricing and the precise amounts of personal protective equipment ordered has been redacted as this is considered commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 2 December 2020 to Question 119401, on Protective Clothing: Procurement, if he will publish the number of PS9230 Type IIR face masks ordered from Purple Surgical on Contract Reference PSIIR20200516 of 11 May 2020 at the agreed total cost of £33,600,000.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The contract award notices and contracts awarded to Purple Surgical have been published. Information concerning pricing and the precise amounts of personal protective equipment ordered has been redacted as this is considered commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer given by Lord Bethell on 1 December (HL10548), what “associated commercial implications” are engaged by disclosure of the requested non-commercial information; and which of the categories of non-commercial information that were requested give rise to those “associated commercial implications”.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department has considered the position of suppliers which were referred to the high priority channel. The disclosure of their names may damage the supplier’s reputation, affecting their competitive position and could have a potentially detrimental impact on their revenue and/or their ability to obtain future contracts.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Health and Social Care spoke with representatives of (1) Tulchan Group, and (2) Meller Designs, on 6 April; and if so, whether (a) the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) was discussed, (b) whether any records were kept of that discussion, and (c) whether the contact details of anyone working for the Government on the procurement of PPE was given to any such representatives.
Answered by Lord Bethell
I did not meet with any representative of Tulchan Group on 6 April.
I spoke with a representative of Meller Designs on 6 April to discuss the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE). A draft note of the meeting was made. The representative of Meller Designs was already in contact with Government officials involved in the procurement of PPE.