Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is currently in dispute with Carlton Packaging over PPE contracts.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is currently in dispute with Ascot Signs over PPE contracts.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is currently in dispute with Sante Global, formerly UniSpace Health, over PPE contracts.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to his Department has been of legal advice given to resolve contractual disputes in regard to personal protective equipment contracts, in particular the cost of (a) external legal advice and (b) consultants.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In 2021/22, the costs of external legal advice to support the personal protective equipment (PPE) programme was £2.5 million, which includes advice relating to the resolution of disputed contracts. This excludes the cost of advice provided by the Government Legal Department. The cost of consultants employed in the PPE programme was £15.2 million, including the costs associated with the resolution of disputed contracts.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has paid to PPE MedPro for the purchase of personal protective equipment; and whether that company has met its contractual obligations for providing adequate personal protective equipment under the contractual terms set by his Department.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department paid £202,850,000 to PPE MedPro for the purchase of personal protective equipment. However, we are unable to provide the information requested on contractual obligations as this commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has paid to Ayanda Capital Ltd for the purchase of personal protective equipment; and whether that company has met its contractual obligations for providing adequate personal protective equipment under the contractual terms set by his Department.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department has paid £252,500,000 to Ayanda Capital for the purchase of personal protective equipment. We are unable to provide the contractual information requested as it is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many ventilators purchased by his Department since 2020 have been found unsuitable for use.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Since 2020, the Department purchased approximately 47,000 ventilators of all types in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of these, approximately 1,500 or 3.2% of purchases have been found to be unfit for use in the National Health Service following clinical and medical engineering testing and evaluation. Approximately 5,000 Philips Respironics Bipap ventilators are currently awaiting repair by the manufacturer following a general product safety recall.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has paid to Excalibur Healthcare for the purchase of personal protective equipment; and whether that company has met its contractual obligations for providing adequate personal protective equipment under the contractual terms set by his Department.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department paid £25,135,000 to Excalibur Healthcare for the purchase of personal protective equipment. However, we are unable to provide the information requested on contractual obligations as this commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the potential (a) units and (b) purchased cost of personal protective equipment which the Department plans to incinerate in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
A specific estimate has not yet been made. The Department has appointed two providers to assess the most cost efficient and environmentally sustainable options for the disposal of personal protective equipment. Where possible we aim to recycle items before considering incineration.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the condition of personal protective equipment in storage as of 18 February 2022.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The quality assurance of personal protective equipment (PPE) is ongoing. As of 28 February 2022, the latest available information shows that 34.5 billion items have been received and 18 billion items have been distributed to the frontline. The following table shows categorisation of PPE items by quantity and proportion as of 28 February.
Category | Quantity | Percentage |
Stock cleared for release | 11.0 billion | 66.9% |
Assessment in progress or not started | 1.4 billion | 8.7% |
Exit stock (all items not currently suitable for provision to health and social care, for any reason) | 4.0 billion | 24.4% |
Of which: | ||
New buy product on hold for stock management purposes | 1.2 billion | 7.0% |
Temporary hold – investigating regulatory issues. | 357 million | 2.2% |
Potential use in other settings | 1.2 billion | 7.2% |
Wastage (not fit for any use) | 1.1 billion | 6.9% |
Total quantity | 16.4 billion | 100% |