Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many items of what sort of personal protective equipment he plans to stockpile for future pandemics; and what account he has taken of previous experience in deciding levels and sorts of such equipment.

The Department is committed to learning lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and has sought expert advice on personal protective equipment products that should be held, or otherwise contracted for, to support the United Kingdom’s preparedness for future pandemic and emerging infectious disease threats.