Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the volume of (a) palettes and (b) tons of publicly procured unused personal protective equipment disposed of in England from storage facilities between 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023.

Approximately 130,000 pallets of excess stock have been exited from storage facilities in the United Kingdom from 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023, with the vast majority of this being through recovery activities (recycling and energy-from-waste processes). For stock subjected to recovery activities, details around tonnage are being compiled and are expected to be available in an upcoming publication for excess stock, currently scheduled for October 2023.

The contracted cost for exiting this stock was in the region of £11 million and the storage cost savings associated with their exit are approximately £16.6 million per year.

In the previous quarter, from 1 January to 30 March 2023, approximately 100,000 pallets of excess personal protective equipment stock held in the UK was exited. The contracted cost for exiting this stock through recovery and disposal activities was in the region of £10 million and the scaled storage cost savings associated with their exit are £12.8 million per year.