Recommendation 2

The procurement of PPE in response to the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed existing systems and has exposed weaknesses in the Department’s commercial contracting capability. At the start of the pandemic the Department faced significant challenges in sourcing and procuring PPE in the competitive global market due to the surge in demand around the world; and the temporary decline in global supply as factories temporarily shut to help reduce Covid-19 infections. PPE was purchased from new suppliers including from companies with no experience in these types of products, and where full physical product quality inspection could not always be done in advance. The Department’s subsequent review of the 364 PPE contracts it entered into identified concerns about 176 (48%) contracts. Of these 176 contracts, 24% are either currently under commercial negotiation (59 contracts); legal review (27 contracts); or in mediation (3 contracts). One of these contracts was for 3.5 billion gloves where there are allegations of modern slavery against the manufacturer. Recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response the Department should set out its ‘commercial reset’ plan and the timeline for scaling up its commercial capability across the Departmental Group to ensure sufficient support is in place to procure and manage existing and future contracts. The Department should also 6 Department of Health and Social Care 2020–21 Annual Report and Accounts keep us informed of cases where it is has been both successful and unsuccessful in reclaiming money spent on sub-standard PPE or recovering money paid to suppliers where no goods were received.