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Written question asked by Matt Western (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 May 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 2 June 2020. It was answered by Jo Churchill (Conservative) on Friday, 5 June 2020 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.


Protective Clothing and Screening: Procurement

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria his Department used to select (a) Deloitte to lead work on the procurement of personal protective equipment and (b) Sodexo to lead work on the establishment of covid-19 testing centres.

Answer

Deloitte is providing operational support for the procurement process of personal protective equipment (PPE) from existing and new manufacturers who can assist in scaling-up regulatory-approved PPE resources within the United Kingdom. As an existing professional services provider to the public sector, Deloitte’s expertise is being used to supplement in-house resource to deliver significant programmes of work, which currently includes the national response to COVID-19.

Sodexo are one of a number of facility management companies who are supporting the establishment and running of testing centres across the UK. Officials have worked with various industry providers to understand who has the footprint and ability to establish and run services in all geographical areas within short timescales.

Guidance on how contracting authorities should respond to COVID-19 was published on 18 March. Authorities are allowed to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015. We have also made it clear that authorities must continue to achieve value for money for taxpayers, use good commercial judgement and publish the details of any awards made, in line with regulations and Government transparency guidelines.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
49101
Session
2019-21
Transferred
Yes
Subjects
Contracts Protective clothing Procurement Screening Deloitte Sodexo Coronavirus
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk