We are concerned that the Department’s ordering of an enormous amount of PPE might compromise government’s ambition to maintain a UK manufacturing base for PPE. Between February and July 2020, the Department ordered 32 billion items of PPE. It intended to build up a stockpile that could last four months. Based on the rate PPE was used between March and July 2020, the amount of PPE that the Department has ordered could last five years (with variations across different types of PPE). Government...

We are concerned that the Department’s ordering of an enormous amount of PPE might compromise government’s ambition to maintain a UK manufacturing base for PPE. Between February and July 2020, the Department ordered 32 billion items of PPE. It intended to build up a stockpile that could last four months. Based on the rate PPE was used between March and July 2020, the amount of PPE that the Department has ordered could last five years (with variations across different types of PPE). Government’s PPE strategy aims to build a UK manufacturing base so that there is a resilient domestic supply. But there is a risk that UK manufacturers of PPE will Type: recommendation | Number: 6 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: end July 2021 6.2 On 28 September 2020, the government published its PPE Strategy: Stabilise and Build Resilience, which set out how the government was prepared for the