£9.9bn billion wasted on PPE: “Taxpayers’ money poured down the drain”

EMBARGO: For Immediate Release

£9.9 billion of the £13.6 billion spent on personal protective equipment (PPE) since 2020 has been written off because it was unusable or its value has crashed since the pandemic.

The figures were revealed today in the Department for Health and Social Care’s annual report.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:

“This is a sickening level of waste. Billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been poured down the drain because of this Conservative government’s incompetence.

“To rub salt in the wound, some of this money was wasted on dodgy contracts with Conservative cronies, the vast majority of which has still not been recovered.

“The Health Secretary should come to Parliament and explain how so much taxpayers’ money was frittered away and what is being done to get it back.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor

Figures can be found in the DHSC annual report here (p.223).

Since 2020-21, of the £13.6 billion it has spent, the Department has written down the value of its PPE inventory by £9.9 billion because it was unusable or its market price had fallen since it was purchased during the pandemic. Some PPE was not usable by the Department because it was defective or not suitable for use within the health and social care sector. Other PPE was not defective, but the Department will not be able to use it before its expiry date.