Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the European Commission on UK participation in the EU scheme for joint procurement of ventilators and protective equipment for medical staff.

The Government is working with industry, the National Health Service, social care providers and the army to ensure the supply of key medical equipment for the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak. Royal Mail and Amazon have also pledged to support with logistics. In addition, ministers and the Chief Medical Officer are working closely with counterparts in the devolved administrations to ensure an approach that works for the whole of the UK. We are in active discussions with the European Commission on future shared procurement opportunities and we will decide whether to participate in each on the basis of public health requirements at the time. We are exploring all procurement options for medical equipment and will give the NHS and the social care sector everything they need to tackle this outbreak.