Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on consultants for the disposal of personal protective equipment programme, including costs associated with the resolution of disputed contracts, between January 2020 and January 2023.

From April 2022 to January 2023, the Department spent £1,613,305 on consultancy that can be directly attributed to the disposal of goods. It is not possible to calculate the directly attributable costs associated with consultancy working on disposal prior to April 2022.

The costs associated with consultancy and contingent labour for the resolution of contracts between April 2022 to January 2023 is expected to be £5.45 million. This activity is responsible for the Department recovering well over £50 million to date, and further cash settlements are expected.