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 - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take in response to retail spaces that are not enforcing the wearing of face masks.
Answered by Maggie Throup
There is a legal requirement for in-scope businesses including shops, to display signage to inform the public that face coverings are mandated in their premises, unless they are exempt from wearing them or have a reasonable excuse.
The Regulations already provide for local authority enforcement officers to be able to use their enforcement powers against businesses for contravening the requirement relating to signage and information through issuing fixed penalty notices.
Staff in retail spaces and other places can remind people of the requirement to wear a face covering, but this should not result in anyone having to prove that they have an exemption or reasonable excuse.
If necessary, the police and community support officers can issue a fixed penalty notice to anyone who does not comply with this law without a valid exemption or reasonable excuse.
The Government will keep this policy under review.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to encourage supermarkets to ask customers to wear face masks in their stores during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Maggie Throup
There is a legal requirement for in-scope businesses, including shops, to display signage to inform the public that face coverings are mandated in their premises, unless they are exempt from wearing them or have a reasonable excuse. Staff should remind people of the requirement to wear a face covering, but this should not result in anyone having to prove that they have an exemption or reasonable excuse. If necessary, police and police community support officers can issue a fixed penalty notice to anyone who does not comply without a valid exemption or reasonable excuse.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Hindhead (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 require members’ clubs and social clubs to enforce the wearing of masks, while other hospitality venues providing identical activities, such as pubs, are not required to; and why their approach to regulating members’ clubs and social clubs has changed from previous COVID-19-related regulations, under which such clubs were not treated differently to pubs and similar hospitality venues.
Answered by Lord Kamall
In contrast to previous periods when face-coverings were mandated, they are not required in hospitality settings such as cafes, restaurants and pubs as it is impractical to wear a face-covering whilst eating and drinking. While face coverings are required in settings including community centres, youth centres, members’ clubs and social clubs, they are not required in areas where eating and drinking occur.
Social clubs and members’ clubs are diverse in the activities they offer rather than solely for eating and drinking. However, where a social club or members’ club is providing hospitality, there is a specific exemption for those areas within the premises from the requirement to wear face coverings, which provides consistency with the hospitality sector.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will require face masks to be worn in all indoor venues, including shops and on transport, in response to the high covid-19 infection rates.
Answered by Maggie Throup
On 10 December, face coverings were made a legal requirement in most indoor public places, including cinemas, theatres and places of worship in addition to the existing rules for shops and public transport, including taxis. Face coverings are not required in hospitality settings such as cafes, restaurants and pubs or in nightclubs and other night-time dance venues. Face coverings will also not be required in fitness settings and when people are exercising.
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 assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of equipment provided by Liaoning Zhongqiao Overseas Exchange Co Ltd through the high priority lane for the supply of Personal Protective Equipment for use by NHS and social care staff during the outbreak of covid-19.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
A quality assurance process is in place to ensure the efficacy of equipment provided by all suppliers is determined before it is distributed. Products are only distributed if they meet the relevant standards as set out in the published technical specification for personal protective equipment (PPE) on GOV.UK.
All PPE supplied by Liaoning Zhongqiao Overseas Exchange Co Ltd received such quality assurance checks. Of the products received, some are being used with others repurposed for use outside health and care settings. Some items containing latex will be recycled at the appropriate time.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many shipping containers the Government or its agents have rented for the storage of unused personal protective equipment since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department has rented 9,512 containers since the start of the pandemic.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the length of time that restrictions introduced on 30 November 2021 requiring face coverings to be worn on public transport and in shops will remain in place.
Answered by Maggie Throup
On 30 November new regulations requiring face coverings to be worn in shops and on public transport were put in force until 22 December. However, as the scale of the challenge presented by Omicron became clearer, the Department acted, both broadening the scope of these regulation and extending their life to 26 Jan 2022. The Department is keeping all aspects of its response to the pandemic under review, including the latest response in the light of Omicron.
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 face masks produced for the NHS by (1) PestFix, and (2) Ayanda Capital, are compliant with Health and Safety Executive safety standards; whether surgical gowns manufactured by (a) PestFix, and (b) PPEMedpro, meet the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority standards; how much these products cost; what procedures were used for their purchase; and what happened to these products after delivery.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Pestfix, Ayanda Capital and PPEMedpro are suppliers and not producers or manufacturers.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency assessed the Type IIR masks supplied by Pestfix and Ayanda and approved the products for release. So far, around 43 million of these masks have been distributed.
Pestfix and Ayanda supplied FFP2 masks with ear loops. This was compliant with the regulatory standard and specifications at the time of contract. It was subsequently determined that ear loops, as opposed to head loops, were not acceptable for use in the National Health Service (NHS). As a result, when the Health and Safety Executive assessed the FFP2 masks supplied by Pestfix and Ayanda, they failed for use in the NHS because they have ear loops rather than head loops. We are looking at making these masks available for overseas markets.
Pestfix and PPEMedpro provided surgical gowns. In both cases these were not approved and no stock was distributed. Whilst the supplies come from different manufacturers all items are “single wrapped sterile surgical gowns”, which cannot be used within the United Kingdom operating theatres, due to sterility concerns around the single wrap. These products could potentially be made available for sale to overseas markets.
Any decisions on individual contracts are regarded as commercially sensitive information, therefore the department is unable to release information in relation to costs and procedures.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the report concerning 47 PPE contracts awarded through a fast-track process; (2) whether this report has been seen by the Health and Safety Executive; (3) if not, why not; and (4) what steps they are taking to prevent contracts being awarded through such a process again.
Answered by Lord Kamall
No such report has been produced.
The Government is transforming public procurement following the publication of a Green paper last year. New measures will set out clear arrangements for how procurement should be conducted, including in situations where extreme urgency is a factor.