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 18 January 2022 to Question 103559 on Coronavirus: Protective Clothing, whether the personal protective equipment (PPE) provided by (a) Pestfix and (b) Ayanda which is not currently available for release to the NHS as a result of technical and quality issues was included in the £0.67 billion of PPE which cannot be used or the £2.6 billion of PPE which is not suitable for use within the health and social care sector, reported in his Department's annual report and accounts.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department does not currently hold the information in the format required.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his Answer of 10 January 2022 to Question 97125 on Coronavirus: Protective Clothing, how much of the total cost for items of personal protective equipment that were not fit for use was paid to companies which secured contracts via the high priority lane.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The technical assurance process for personal protective equipment (PPE) is ongoing. The quantity of PPE items currently deemed not fit for use has been reduced to 984 million items, with a corresponding purchase price of £326 million. Of this, £61 million was paid to suppliers that were processed through the High Priority Lane. The Department continues to work through resolution processes with companies that provided PPE which is not fit for use, including those processed through the High Priority Lane.
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 15 December 2021 to Question 80941, on Coronavirus: Protective Clothing, whether Baroness Mone declared any connection to Medpro PPE in her communications with the Minister on 7 and 8 May 2020.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
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
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 what was the total public expenditure on faulty PPE products made by Zhende and Inivos which cannot be used by the NHS; and what steps they are taking to recoup this expenditure.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Inivos supplied gowns with a contract value of £117,360,000, which are currently under investigation through the technical regulatory assurance process. Since the Department does not have a contract directly with Zhende, the information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the figures from Scotland on the reduction of transmission of covid-19 connected with mask wearing in schools.
Answered by Robin Walker
Each of the devolved administrations has a Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and a Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA). They work with Sir Chris Whitty, the CMO to the UK government, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government CSA, to provide co-ordinated advice to government departments in all 4 nations.
Expert scientific advisory groups are convened at a UK level and provide advice to the CMOs of the 4 nations, to health authorities in the devolved administrations, and to the devolved governments directly.
The UK government has worked closely with the devolved administrations throughout the COVID-19 outbreak and continues to do so. However, education and health are devolved, and each nation of the UK has its own guidance to support education providers. It will be for the Scottish government to respond regarding its figures and face covering policies and the reduction of transmission of COVID-19 connected with mask wearing in schools in Scotland.
The department will always prioritise the health and welfare of staff, pupils and students.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) provides independent, evidence-based advice and guidance to other government departments, including the Department for Education, in the context of the response to COVID-19. The advice provided is based on critical appraisal of the most up-to-date evidence available and has changed depending on the epidemiological picture and emerging evidence. It is based on this advice that the department’s recommendations are made.
My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced on 19 January that Plan B is to end. This decision comes in response to national infection data showing the prevalence of COVID-19 to be on a downward trajectory. Whilst there are some groups where cases are likely to continue rising, it is likely that the Omicron wave has now peaked nationally. There remains significant pressure on the NHS, but hospital admissions have stabilised, and the number of patients in intensive care units remains low and is falling.
Therefore, it is right that we remove the most stringent restrictions around wearing face coverings in schools, but the virus is still with us and continuing with proportionate protective measures remains vital to protect education.
As a result, face coverings are no longer advised for pupils, staff and visitors in classrooms. From 27 January, face coverings are no longer advised for pupils, staff and visitors in communal areas. This advice remains subject to change as the situation develops. A link to our guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.
On 5 January 2022, the department published its evidence summary on the use of face coverings in education providers which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1044767/Evidence_summary_-_face_coverings.pdf.
The UKHSA critically assesses and reviews the current global evidence on a range of risk mitigations, including face coverings, in publicly available evidence reviews. The most recent review was published in November 2021 and can be found at: https://ukhsa.koha-ptfs.co.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-retrieve-file.pl?id=35a32498205a656d9a849736b4037314.
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 18 January 2022 to Question 103559 on Protective Clothing: Coronavirus, how many other suppliers awarded contracts for personal protective equipment through the high-priority lane are in mediation with his Department as of 18 January 2022.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department is currently engaged in a mediation process with one other supplier.
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
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, what the total value is of personal protective equipment procured from (a) Pestfix and (b) Ayanda during the covid-19 outbreak that has not been useable by the NHS; and what steps he is taking to recoup funds paid for that unusable equipment.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Pestfix supplied personal protective equipment (PPE) with a value of £169,320,000 which is not currently available for release to the National Health Service due to technical and quality issues. The Department is currently engaged in mediation with Pestfix.
Ayanda supplied PPE with a value of £145,701,240 which is not currently available for release to the NHS due to technical and quality issues. The Department is undertaking a further detailed technical analysis of the product and will consider any commercial options available following conclusion of that review.
Departmental contracts require that it undertakes mediation with its suppliers prior to the commencement of formal legal action, to establish if disputes can be resolved without recourse to litigation.
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 75897, which of the products supplied by Liaoning Zhongqiao Overseas Exchange Co Ltd were repurposed for use outside health and care settings; what the total value was of those products; and what value was recouped through resale.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Liaoning Zhonggiao Overseas Exchange Co Ltd were contracted to provide visors and goggles. It is likely that some goggles will be repurposed for use outside health and care settings. These products are currently being reviewed before re-distribution therefore the information requested on the total value and the amount recouped is not yet available.