Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they took part in EU joint procurement programmes for personal protection equipment; and if not, why not.

The United Kingdom is not participating in the first four European Union Joint Procurements in response to COVID-19, including those related to personal protective equipment (PPE). Owing to an initial communication problem, the UK did not receive an invitation in time to take part. However, participating in those four initial joint procurement schemes would not have allowed us to do anything that we have not been able to do ourselves.

We are working round the clock to secure the National Health Service and the social care sector the PPE and medical equipment they need. Since the start of the outbreak, we have delivered over 1.63 billion items of PPE to the front line.

The UK has discussed Joint Procurement bilaterally with the Commission and will consider participating in other future PPE schemes based on public health requirements.