The accounts showed that £8.7 billion of the £12.1 billion spent on PPE in the early phases of the pandemic has been written off. This includes £670 million of “defective” equipment found to be totally unusable, £2.6 billion on supplies “not suitable” for the NHS, for which officials are trying to find other uses, and £750 million on PPE that has passed its expiry date.
In addition, £4.7 billion has been written off the value of remaining stocks because the market price is now so much lower than what the government paid. For example, the government paid three times as much for aprons as they are now worth.
A further £1.2 billion is being written down on advance orders delivered this financial year that are now worth less than the government paid for them.
The NAO said the department “did not maintain adequate records of the location or condition” of the unaccounted £3.6 billion worth of stock. Officials believe the department held 7.5 billion items in 16,000 containers at ports in the UK and a further 1.6 billion stored in China, but “is unable to confirm this”.
Posted by Sarah on 2 February, 2022 at 1:10 PM
I'm glad it is getting a bit more coverage, but is enough of a fuss being made about this horrific waste of taxpayers' money?
I think it is such a big number that people just do not appreciate how much this is, and what could have been done with the money instead. This on top of the money spent/wasted on Track and Trace cf what other similar countries have spent.
£12 billion is the same amount as will be raised every year by the NI hike in April.
Posted by Blue Witch on 2 February, 2022 at 2:25 PM
And more than £500,000 a day being spent on storage facilities for the mountains of the stuff.
Posted by Blue Witch on 3 February, 2022 at 8:19 AM
I agree, not enough is being said about this horrific waste of taxpayers money and that's the rub. It is taxpayers money that could have been used elsewhere but and advice, panic, stupidity and greed took centre stage and here we are. That plus the fraudulent claims for money during the lockdowns are being written off as the cost of living rises and the poor get poorer.
https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/national/uk-today/19891460.8-7bn-written-off-government-relation-pandemic-ppe/?ref=rss
Posted by Debster on 1 February, 2022 at 7:13 PMI've sent a link which hopefully you can recover from the Dorset Echo about the ppe.
Posted by Debster on 1 February, 2022 at 7:14 PMhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-60212641
Posted by Joho on 2 February, 2022 at 10:25 AMFrom The Times today
The accounts showed that £8.7 billion of the £12.1 billion spent on PPE in the early phases of the pandemic has been written off. This includes £670 million of “defective” equipment found to be totally unusable, £2.6 billion on supplies “not suitable” for the NHS, for which officials are trying to find other uses, and £750 million on PPE that has passed its expiry date.
In addition, £4.7 billion has been written off the value of remaining stocks because the market price is now so much lower than what the government paid. For example, the government paid three times as much for aprons as they are now worth.
A further £1.2 billion is being written down on advance orders delivered this financial year that are now worth less than the government paid for them.
The NAO said the department “did not maintain adequate records of the location or condition” of the unaccounted £3.6 billion worth of stock. Officials believe the department held 7.5 billion items in 16,000 containers at ports in the UK and a further 1.6 billion stored in China, but “is unable to confirm this”.
Posted by Sarah on 2 February, 2022 at 1:10 PMI'm glad it is getting a bit more coverage, but is enough of a fuss being made about this horrific waste of taxpayers' money?
I think it is such a big number that people just do not appreciate how much this is, and what could have been done with the money instead. This on top of the money spent/wasted on Track and Trace cf what other similar countries have spent.
£12 billion is the same amount as will be raised every year by the NI hike in April.
Posted by Blue Witch on 2 February, 2022 at 2:25 PMAnd more than £500,000 a day being spent on storage facilities for the mountains of the stuff.
Posted by Blue Witch on 3 February, 2022 at 8:19 AMI agree, not enough is being said about this horrific waste of taxpayers money and that's the rub. It is taxpayers money that could have been used elsewhere but and advice, panic, stupidity and greed took centre stage and here we are. That plus the fraudulent claims for money during the lockdowns are being written off as the cost of living rises and the poor get poorer.
Posted by delcatto on 4 February, 2022 at 1:35 PM