The UK government has wasted almost £10 billion on unused Covid PPE, figures show
Ministers have been accused of throwing away taxpayers’ money “like it’s confetti” after official figures revealed the government has wasted almost £10 billion on faulty or unusable personal protective equipment during the Covid crisis.
Annual accounts for the Department of Health and Social Care, published on Thursday, shows that almost three-quarters of the money it spent on personal protective equipment during the pandemic has been written off.
The figures show that £9.9 billion of the £13.6 billion worth of personal protective equipment the department bought between 2020 and 2022 was unusable or its value is now less than the government paid for it. This includes defective or unsuitable equipment, as well as PPE that could not be used before its expiry date.
Gareth Davies, the Comptroller and Auditor-General of the National Audit Office, said: “Ongoing efforts to detect, prevent and recover fraud must continue, increasing public confidence that these pressures on public finances will be effectively addressed.” and is tackled efficiently.”
The figures come as the National Crime Agency investigates allegations of bribery and fraud in the awarding of PPE contracts.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said: “As chancellor, Rishi Sunak threw away taxpayers’ money like confetti and failed to get our money back. Sunak’s carelessness has cost our country dearly. Never again can the Conservatives claim to be the careful stewards of the public finances.
“A Labor government will appoint a Covid corruption commissioner to track down those who have defrauded the British taxpayer, and we will set up an Office of Value for Money so that every penny of public money is spent wisely.”
Liberal Democrats health spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: “This is a sickening amount of waste. Billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money have been wasted because of the incompetence of this Conservative government. 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 minister should come to parliament and explain how so much taxpayer money was wasted and what is being done to get it back.”
Downing Street defended the losses. The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “It is important not to forget the circumstances that Britain and countries worldwide found themselves in during a pandemic, when there was an extreme shortage of personal protective equipment worldwide.
“Costs increased significantly as a result and the government made the decision in a very transparent manner to do everything possible to secure protective equipment for frontline health and care workers. That was right.”