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, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2023 to Question 120948 on Unispace Global: Contracts, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the reasons cited for the novation of PPE contracts from Unispace Global Ltd to Sante Global LLP.
Answered by Will Quince
Legal advice was not sought by the Department on the change in legal structure of the counterparties to the contracts nor of the potential tax implications of the novation of the contracts as this did not affect the terms of the contracts, including the payments to be made by the Department or the supply of products to the Department.
Under the change of structure, Unispace Global Ltd was acquired by Unispace Health Products LLP, which changed its name to Sante Global LLP shortly afterwards. A novation agreement was entered into to change the counterparty to the contracts, where the new counterparty agreed to perform all of the present and future obligations of the contracts.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether any companies owned by or subsidiaries of the SIMEC Group received any Government subsidies following the SIMEC Group's acquisition of the Uskmouth B Powerplant in Newport, South Wales in 2015.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The information requested is not held centrally by the Department for Business and Trade. To provide this information would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold of £850 that is set by the Cabinet Office.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2023 to Question 120948 on Unispace Global: Contracts, whether the settlement reached in July 2021 required Sante Global LLP to deliver on the obligations in the original Unispace Global contract; whether any of the obligations in the original contract were waived as part of the new settlement; and what proportion of the original contractual obligations have now been met.
Answered by Will Quince
I must begin by correcting the record regarding the date of the settlement. An agreement resolving the dispute was signed in July 2022, whereas the earlier Parliamentary response refers to a settlement having been reached in July 2021. I have made arrangements for the record to be corrected in Hansard.
I can confirm that the obligations to deliver product have been fully met, with the last delivery of replacement products having been received on 17 October 2022.
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 PPE contracts were involved in his Department’s Anti-Fraud Unit’s recovery of £18 million in PPE fraud.
Answered by Will Quince
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 has not been used to recover personal protective equipment (PPE) funds lost through fraud since March 2020. Four contracts were involved in the Department’s recovery of £18 million of PPE spend lost due to fraud.
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, on how many occasions his Department’s Anti-Fraud Unit has made use of its powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to recover funds lost through PPE fraud since March 2020.
Answered by Will Quince
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 has not been used to recover personal protective equipment (PPE) funds lost through fraud since March 2020. Four contracts were involved in the Department’s recovery of £18 million of PPE spend lost due to fraud.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason his Department has not agreed to the Second Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office, Sue Gray, from serving as a witness in the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee’s investigation into the lobbying and access affair involving Greensill Capital in July 2021.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
It is the Government’s longstanding position, as set out in the Osmotherly Rules, that officials do not attend Committees in their own capacity, but as representatives of their Ministers. It is therefore open for Ministers to decide to attend instead. In this instance, successive Cabinet Office Ministers declined the invitation for Ms Gray to appear before the Committee and in so doing offered to attend instead to answer any questions the Committee might have had on this subject.
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, when the PPE contracts awarded to Unispace Global Ltd were novated to Unispace Health LLP, now Sante Global LLP.
Answered by Will Quince
On 16 December 2020, contracts under Unispace were novated to Sante Global LLP, whom at the time were Unispace Health Products LLP, by a deed of novation made between the Department, Unispace and Sante Global LLP.
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 Unispace Global Ltd fulfilled its contractual obligations on all PPE contracts it was awarded prior to its novation to Sante Global LLP.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department contract with Unispace Global Ltd for gloves was not fulfilled prior to that contract being novated to Sante Global LLP. However, in July 2022, a settlement was reached and the contract has now performed.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to Answer of 17 January 2023 to Question 120941 on Safe Hands Plans: Finance, whether his Department holds data on (a) how many more consumers bought a Safe Hands Plan after July 2017, and (b) the estimated average loss to each consumer who had bought a plan.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Safe Hands Plans went into administration in March 2022. The government understands that this situation is very concerning for customers of Safe Hands.
Since being made aware of misconduct across the funeral plan sector in 2017, the government and Financial Conduct Authority have dedicated significant resource to regulate the sector fully. This has ensured that those trying to make financial arrangements for their funerals now have the right regulatory protections.
The government’s work to bring pre-paid funeral plans into regulation has ensured that – for the first time – 1.6 million funeral plan consumers are protected from poor practice within the sector. Because of the action taken, it is now a criminal offence to sell pre-paid funeral plans without FCA authorisation.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to Answer of 17 January 2023 to Question 120941 on Safe Hands Plans: Finance, whether his departmental officials contacted representative's of Safe Hands Plans to inquire into the risk those plans posed to consumers.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Safe Hands Plans went into administration in March 2022. The government understands that this situation is very concerning for customers of Safe Hands.
Since being made aware of misconduct across the funeral plan sector in 2017, the government and Financial Conduct Authority have dedicated significant resource to regulate the sector fully. This has ensured that those trying to make financial arrangements for their funerals now have the right regulatory protections.
The government’s work to bring pre-paid funeral plans into regulation has ensured that – for the first time – 1.6 million funeral plan consumers are protected from poor practice within the sector. Because of the action taken, it is now a criminal offence to sell pre-paid funeral plans without FCA authorisation.