Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what checks have been carried out on supply chains relating to his Department's covid-19 response in terms of (a) ethical audits, (b) financial due diligence and (c) quality control.

Guidance on how contracting authorities should respond to COVID-19 was published on 18 March at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0120-responding-to-covid-19

Authorities are allowed to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015.

Suppliers are evaluated by Departmental officials on their financial standing, compliance with minimum product specifications and ability to perform the contract. Guidance has been issued which also advises contracting authorities on how to assess suppliers in terms of mitigating the risk of modern slavery.

Contracts are placed in line with Departmental terms and conditions which include clauses requiring Good Industry Practice to ensure that there is no slavery or human trafficking in supply chains; and for contract management to ensure that supplier performance and the delivery of value for money can be properly assessed throughout the lifetime of the contract.