Arco Response to the "Write Off" of Government Procured PPE During the Pandemic

As the UK's leading safety company, Arco has responded to the announcement that £8.7billion of PPE procured by the Government during the pandemic has been written off following the publication of the Department for Health and Social Care's accounts for 2020/21.

Thomas Martin, Chairman of Arco, said:

"We are disappointed to read the details of the accounts published by the Department for Health and Social Care regarding the amount of PPE procured during the pandemic that will now be written off.

"We understand that this £8.7bn cost is as a result of the Government buying equipment that was not fit-for-purpose, paying increased prices in a competitive global market and purchasing products that subsequently had passed their expiry date. Of most concern was the £2.6bn that was spent on PPE not suitable for use in the NHS.

"Whilst we appreciate there was an urgent requirement for PPE for frontline responders at the beginning of the pandemic and that the Government was facing unprecedented and challenging circumstances, we still believe that, with our track record in sourcing, emergency planning and distribution of PPE, the Government could have engaged more proactively with Arco to benefit from our expert knowledge to support the process.

"We still feel that there are important lessons to learn from what went wrong and we have produced a position paper: Personal Protective Equipment and the Government's Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic in which we share our own experiences during the pandemic but, more importantly, we propose a 10-point set of recommendations that could help prevent a repeat of the issues that are now coming to light. Arco remains ready and willing to work with the Government and its agencies to ensure that we are better protected for any future emergencies."