Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Management of PPE Contracts

Status: Closed Opened: 15 Mar 2022 Closed: 8 Nov 2022 4 recommendations 17 conclusions 1 report

The NAO and PAC have previously reported on the commercial deals struck by government as part of its emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic, finding in some instances that these deals may have left government with some that failed to meet the required standards, including hundreds of millions of pounds-worth of PPE that will not …

Reports

1 report

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Twelfth Report - Management of PPE contracts	HC 260	20 Jul 2022	21	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items

5 Recommendation Twelfth Report - Management of PPE cont… Accepted

The Department has handed back responsibility for the PPE programme to Supply Chain Coordination Limited...

The Department has handed back responsibility for the PPE programme to Supply Chain Coordination Limited (SCCL) with many issues still to be resolved. Since October 2021, oversight of SCCL transferred from the Department to NHS England and in April 2022 the Department transferred the responsibility for managing the supply of …

Government response. The government agreed to release its PPE strategy and update the Committee on plans for publication, aiming for Autumn 2022 implementation, while the NHS Supply Chain took over PPE supply and distribution in April 2022.

HM Treasury

6 Recommendation Twelfth Report - Management of PPE cont… Accepted

The future of the UK-based supply chain for PPE is unclear.

The future of the UK-based supply chain for PPE is unclear. The global demand for PPE at the start of the pandemic pushed up the prices from suppliers around the world. In an effort to create a more resilient UK-based supply chain, the Department encouraged some UK manufacturers to repurpose …

Government response. The department has established a resilient UK-based supply chain and contracts have been signed with around 30 UK-based companies. The department is working with NHS Supply Chain to help offer UK manufactured products to the health and care sectors where …

HM Treasury

7 Conclusion Twelfth Report - Management of PPE cont… Accepted

Alongside reducing excess stock, the Department is also having to consider what is an appropriate...

Alongside reducing excess stock, the Department is also having to consider what is an appropriate level of PPE to hold as a stockpile. We asked it whether it had created another strategic reserve of PPE in preparation for the possibility of a future pandemic.11 The Department noted that it had …

Government response. Operational responsibility will transfer to the NHS Supply Chain on 1 April 2023, with the department retaining ownership of this stock for accounting purposes. The department’s current working assumption is that, subject to suitability, products held in excess will be …

HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session

Date	Witnesses
20 Apr 2022	Jonathan Marron · Department for Health and Social Care, Shona Dunn · Home Office, Sir Chris Wormald · Department of Health and Social Care	View ↗

Correspondence

3 letters

Date	Direction	Title
12 Jan 2023	—	Correspondence from Sir Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary, Department of Healt…
12 Jan 2023	—	Correspondence from Will Quince MP, Minister of State for Health and Secondary …
24 May 2022	—	Correspondence from Sir Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary, Department of Healt…