Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
We asked the Department, given this wide spread of PPE storage, what steps it is...
Conclusion
We asked the Department, given this wide spread of PPE storage, what steps it is taking to introduce a modern stock management system for the PPE programme.23 We noted the importance of having a system where it knows exactly how much PPE it holds, where it is and what the expiry dates are, and is able to easily access it all.24 The NAO reported one example of a contract where the Department seemingly did not know how much PPE it had received and amended the contract to 53.7 million items despite the fact that it had already received 54.3 million items.25 Despite this, the Department told us that it was already able to say what stock it holds and the expiry dates of items. It also said that given that it is still distributing nearly 700 million items a month this is freeing up more space to then access the remaining PPE in storage. It did concede, however, that getting to a position where it has reduced down its stock to a level where it can reduce the number of storage locations would take some time.26 20 Q5 21 Q1 22 Q3 23 Q97 24 Qq102–103 25 C&AG’s Report, para 2.4 26 Qq103–104 Management of PPE contracts 11 2 Managing issues with contracts Ongoing contractual disputes
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
2: PAC conclusion: The Department still lacks a stock management system that enables it to fully understand what PPE it has and where it is. 2: PAC recommendation: The Department should set out in its Treasury Minute response to the Committee how it intends to work with SCCL to build and maintain an effective stock management system that is complete and accurate in its data collection. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 2.2 The priority at the outset of the pandemic was getting vital provisions to the frontline. Building an end-to-end management system would have taken too long. Instead, data systems were built that enabled effective management of the programme. There are now no large volumes of new transactions to assess and manage, so a new stock management system would not add to the existing processes. 2.3 The department has undertaken a systematic and far-reaching data improvement programme, working with third-party logistics contractors to systematically assess and evaluate our data, identifying issues and correcting data gaps at source. 2.4 Responsibility for managing existing and future stock is expected to transition to Supply Chain Coordination Ltd (SCCL) in the coming months to align more fully with business- as-usual inventory management systems within existing supply chain infrastructure. 2.5 For some product types, SCCL are expected to add items to their list of ‘good to distribute’ stock; items that form part of the ongoing supply chain offer. For those items, the scope to move items into existing end-to-end inventory management processes and systems will be explored so that PPE is fully integrated into existing systems and not managed separately. 2.6 For other product types – particularly where more items are held than front line services are likely to use – the focus is on using or disposing of the remaining items efficiently. A bespoke stock management system would not help with this process; the data held on those items already exists, and a new system could only be populated with data already held. 2.7 The department and SCCL have established management information data sources to monitor and manage stock held by the programme at national level, and separate contractual data has been used to manage financial receipting and to pursue contractual matters. Following the data improvement work, the department is well placed to hand over to SCCL a single, coherent and joined up view of stock held. SCCL are putting in place plans to manage disposal or ongoing distribution and sale of those products.