Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total value is of (a) unused and (b) expired PPE stock held by the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on personal protective equipment (PPE) items held in storage within individual National Health Service trusts is not held centrally.
As of 16 June 2025, PPE items with a value of £24,496,465 are being held in storage by NHS Supply Chain for sale to NHS trusts. This stock is all in date. The programme to dispose of excess COVID-19 related PPE concluded in January 2025. Some excess stock was used to replenish the Department’s pandemic PPE stockpile, where possible and appropriate, based on anticipated PPE requirements during a pandemic. The value of in-date PPE held in the Department’s Pandemic Preparedness stockpile by NHS Supply Chain as of 16 June 2025 is £172,923,563. The value of expired PPE held in the Pandemic Preparedness stockpile is £12,514,945, pending replacement and disposal.
Dynamic stockpiling will be the default for any new PPE we buy for the pandemic stockpile. Stockpiled PPE is being sold for use in the NHS wherever possible, before it expires. This represents better value for money by reducing costs for storage, procurement of new products, and disposal of expired products, as well as reducing waste.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to prevent companies who failed to provide useable stock during the COVID-19 pandemic from tendering for the contract to supply NHS face shield stock.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently tendering for its pandemic preparedness portfolio and the procurement is being run against an existing NHS Supply Chain framework agreement.
The framework agreement only has suppliers on it which have been through a competitive tender and due diligence in line with both the legislation, at that time the Public Contract Regulations 2015, and which have been assessed against NHS Supply Chain’s minimum expectations, including sustainability, social value, and modern slavery.
NHS Supply Chain cannot discriminate against countries, except for Russia and Belarus, and this is in line with the Government’s National Procurement Policy Statement which specifically states that nothing in this statement should conflict with the Government’s international trade obligations.
In this tender, bidders were only permitted to tender products that were already awarded to the framework agreement. Furthermore, as part of the tender evaluation, for all products tendered, the technical product/conformity documentation was then reviewed again to ensure its validity, and a ‘hands on product assurance’ assessment requiring samples was undertaken.
Two suppliers on the existing NHS Supply Chain framework provided products under personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts to the Department in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which the Department was dissatisfied with. However, these contract issues have now been resolved. The products supplied under the NHS Supply Chain framework are not the same as for the Department’s PPE contracts, and any issues with future performance will be managed through the contract management process and practice already in place with NHS Supply Chain.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to take steps to prevent tenders from China for the NHS face shield stock currently out for tender.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently tendering for its pandemic preparedness portfolio and the procurement is being run against an existing NHS Supply Chain framework agreement.
The framework agreement only has suppliers on it which have been through a competitive tender and due diligence in line with both the legislation, at that time the Public Contract Regulations 2015, and which have been assessed against NHS Supply Chain’s minimum expectations, including sustainability, social value, and modern slavery.
NHS Supply Chain cannot discriminate against countries, except for Russia and Belarus, and this is in line with the Government’s National Procurement Policy Statement which specifically states that nothing in this statement should conflict with the Government’s international trade obligations.
In this tender, bidders were only permitted to tender products that were already awarded to the framework agreement. Furthermore, as part of the tender evaluation, for all products tendered, the technical product/conformity documentation was then reviewed again to ensure its validity, and a ‘hands on product assurance’ assessment requiring samples was undertaken.
Two suppliers on the existing NHS Supply Chain framework provided products under personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts to the Department in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which the Department was dissatisfied with. However, these contract issues have now been resolved. The products supplied under the NHS Supply Chain framework are not the same as for the Department’s PPE contracts, and any issues with future performance will be managed through the contract management process and practice already in place with NHS Supply Chain.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to prioritise UK suppliers for the supply of NHS face shield stock currently out for tender.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently tendering for its pandemic preparedness portfolio and the procurement is being run against an existing NHS Supply Chain framework agreement.
The framework agreement only has suppliers on it which have been through a competitive tender and due diligence in line with both the legislation, at that time the Public Contract Regulations 2015, and which have been assessed against NHS Supply Chain’s minimum expectations, including sustainability, social value, and modern slavery.
NHS Supply Chain cannot discriminate against countries, except for Russia and Belarus, and this is in line with the Government’s National Procurement Policy Statement which specifically states that nothing in this statement should conflict with the Government’s international trade obligations.
In this tender, bidders were only permitted to tender products that were already awarded to the framework agreement. Furthermore, as part of the tender evaluation, for all products tendered, the technical product/conformity documentation was then reviewed again to ensure its validity, and a ‘hands on product assurance’ assessment requiring samples was undertaken.
Two suppliers on the existing NHS Supply Chain framework provided products under personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts to the Department in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which the Department was dissatisfied with. However, these contract issues have now been resolved. The products supplied under the NHS Supply Chain framework are not the same as for the Department’s PPE contracts, and any issues with future performance will be managed through the contract management process and practice already in place with NHS Supply Chain.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 21 November to Question 13915 on Protective Clothing: Storage, if he will publish a breakdown of where personal protective equipment that is unsuitable for NHS use is stored.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since April 2022, operational management of pandemic era personal protective equipment (PPE) has been carried out by the NHS Supply Chain. They report that PPE considered unsuitable for use in the National Health Service is currently held at the following locations prior to exit from the system, as per data from the end of November 2024:
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on companies involved in supplying PPE which was subsequently marked as do not supply due to being unsuitable for use in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department holds all pertinent contractual detail on those companies who provided personal protective equipment (PPE) products that were considered unsuitable for use. Between 1 November 2023 and 30 September 2024, approximately 432,700 pallets of unusable PPE have been disposed of.
It currently costs approximately £200,000 per week to store PPE unsuitable for National Health Service use. The figure is dynamic because the stock is reducing. NHS Supply Chain manages PPE product supply and logistics and they lease storage for PPE from the following companies GXO and Visku (Bis Henderson).
A programme of work is underway to reduce our excess stock. This work will significantly reduce the cost of our storage network and is due to be complete by January 2025 through sales, donations, recycling, and energy from waste.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse is of storing PPE unsuitable for NHS use; and which companies are contracted to provide such storage services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department holds all pertinent contractual detail on those companies who provided personal protective equipment (PPE) products that were considered unsuitable for use. Between 1 November 2023 and 30 September 2024, approximately 432,700 pallets of unusable PPE have been disposed of.
It currently costs approximately £200,000 per week to store PPE unsuitable for National Health Service use. The figure is dynamic because the stock is reducing. NHS Supply Chain manages PPE product supply and logistics and they lease storage for PPE from the following companies GXO and Visku (Bis Henderson).
A programme of work is underway to reduce our excess stock. This work will significantly reduce the cost of our storage network and is due to be complete by January 2025 through sales, donations, recycling, and energy from waste.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much personal protective clothing and other medical items stored in China by the NHS remains in storage; what has been the accumulated cost of storage; how much has been destroyed; and what will happen to that which remains.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Since July 2023 all of the Department’s personal protective equipment stock has been stored at sites within the United Kingdom. The total cost of storing items in the freeport in China was £60.6 million for the years 2020 until 2023, when we exited the site.
3,058 million items stored in China, or around 80% of the total volume, were sent to the UK for use in health and social care settings. 57 million items, or around 1.5% of the total volume, have been donated. 699 million items, or around 8% of the total volume, were recycled into energy from waste, which was by far the most cost-effective means of disposal readily available.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
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
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.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
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
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.