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, when the Government began its mediation process with PPE Medpro Ltd.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department entered mediation with PPE Medpro in September 2021. We continue to monitor the progress of settlement discussions and we will issue formal proceedings should it be necessary.
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, how much and what proportion of the Government's supply of personal protective equipment is stored in (a) warehouses and (b) shipping containers as of 6 December 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
Since this unprecedented global pandemic began our absolute priority has been saving lives. Our estimates of demand for essential personal protective equipment (PPE) relied on reasonable worst-case scenario planning, information about the prevailing Infection Prevention Control guidance and the likely number of patient interactions in every healthcare setting. In this reasonable worst case, we needed to purchase significant amounts of PPE and there was significant pressure on Government to act quickly and decisively.
As a result, from April to October 2022, the estimated weekly cost of storage in containers was £1.8 million and the estimated daily cost was £253,000. In the same period, the estimated weekly cost of storage in warehouses in the United Kingdom was £2.6 million and the estimated daily cost was £371,000.
On 31 October 2022, there were 7.9 billion items of PPE or 60.1% stored in warehouses. There were 4.4 billion items of PPE or 33.7% stored in containers and 810 million items or 6.2% stored in supplier storage. Supplier storage includes the use of warehouses and containers.
We are currently reducing excess stock, including the cost of storage in all settings and further information will be available in due course.
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 9 November 2022 to Question 77440 on NHS: Protective Clothing, what the (a) weekly and (b) daily cost was of the storage of personal protective equipment in these warehouses in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
Since this unprecedented global pandemic began our absolute priority has been saving lives. Our estimates of demand for essential personal protective equipment (PPE) relied on reasonable worst-case scenario planning, information about the prevailing Infection Prevention Control guidance and the likely number of patient interactions in every healthcare setting. In this reasonable worst case, we needed to purchase significant amounts of PPE and there was significant pressure on Government to act quickly and decisively.
As a result, from April to October 2022, the estimated weekly cost of storage in containers was £1.8 million and the estimated daily cost was £253,000. In the same period, the estimated weekly cost of storage in warehouses in the United Kingdom was £2.6 million and the estimated daily cost was £371,000.
On 31 October 2022, there were 7.9 billion items of PPE or 60.1% stored in warehouses. There were 4.4 billion items of PPE or 33.7% stored in containers and 810 million items or 6.2% stored in supplier storage. Supplier storage includes the use of warehouses and containers.
We are currently reducing excess stock, including the cost of storage in all settings and further information will be available in due course.
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 9 November to Question 59768 on Protective Clothing: Storage, what is the (a) weekly and (b) daily cost of storing personal protective equipment in the containers.
Answered by Will Quince
Since this unprecedented global pandemic began our absolute priority has been saving lives. Our estimates of demand for essential personal protective equipment (PPE) relied on reasonable worst-case scenario planning, information about the prevailing Infection Prevention Control guidance and the likely number of patient interactions in every healthcare setting. In this reasonable worst case, we needed to purchase significant amounts of PPE and there was significant pressure on Government to act quickly and decisively.
As a result, from April to October 2022, the estimated weekly cost of storage in containers was £1.8 million and the estimated daily cost was £253,000. In the same period, the estimated weekly cost of storage in warehouses in the United Kingdom was £2.6 million and the estimated daily cost was £371,000.
On 31 October 2022, there were 7.9 billion items of PPE or 60.1% stored in warehouses. There were 4.4 billion items of PPE or 33.7% stored in containers and 810 million items or 6.2% stored in supplier storage. Supplier storage includes the use of warehouses and containers.
We are currently reducing excess stock, including the cost of storage in all settings and further information will be available in due course.
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 his Department made an assessment of the compatibility of PPE Medpro Ltd’s bid to provide PPE with Regulation 57 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
A due diligence assessment was conducted on PPE Medpro using company and financial information. No grounds for mandatory exclusion under Regulation 57 of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 were found.
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, with reference to the report by the Information Commissioner's Office entitled Behind the screens: maintaining government transparency and data security in the age of messaging apps, published on 11 July 2022, whether his Department has taken recent steps to implement the recommendation to review the use of private correspondence channels.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department recently updated the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on progress. We are implementing initiatives to enhance data governance and protection arrangements and we will provide further information to the ICO in January 2023.
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 provisions were included in public contracts with PPE Medpro Ltd in accordance with Regulation 73 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 enabling the contracting authority to terminate the contract where the contract should have been excluded from the procurement procedure.
Answered by Will Quince
The contract entered into with PPE Medpro Ltd for the supply of personal protective equipment contains termination clauses for a material breach and ‘convenience’. The ‘convenience’ clause is a break clause which allows the Department to terminate the contract for any reason.
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 9 November 2022 to Question 61151 on Protective Clothing: Storage, what the average (a) daily, (b) weekly and (c) monthly cost has been of the storage of that personal protective equipment in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
Estimates of demand for essential personal protective equipment (PPE) relied on reasonable worst-case scenario planning, information on the prevailing infection prevention control guidance and the likely number of patient interactions in healthcare settings. This required the Government to purchase significant amounts of PPE in a short period of time.
From April to September 2022, the average monthly cost for storage of personal protective equipment in China is £3.2 million. Based on the monthly average, it is estimated that the average weekly cost of storage in China is £740,000 and the average daily cost is £106,000. We are currently reducing the excess stock, including the cost of storing PPE in China and further information will be available in due course.