Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of contracts for personal protective equipment being awarded to (a) VIP Lane providers and (b) non VIP Lane providers; and if he will make a statement.

At the point of being prioritised through the high priority lane (often referred to as the ‘VIP lane’) offers for the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) went into exactly the same Technical Assurance, Closing (contract negotiation) and Procurement (contract award) process as all the other offers. Information obtained through an independent audit found no discernible difference in overall prices paid by the Department to suppliers processed through the high priority lane relative to those which were not.