Commons Sense

House of Commons · Adjournment Debate

Covid-19: Award of Contracts

05 January 2022 · 1 other contributor

Opened by Neale Hanvey Lab Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath

NHS

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Neale Hanvey raised concerns about covid-19: award of contracts in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.

Key points

  • The debate focused on the UK Government's handling of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), domestic testing capacity, and vaccine procurement during the pandemic.
  • Neale Hanvey criticised the government for alleged corruption in PPE contracts, abandonment of home-grown testing solutions, and cancellation of a contract with Valneva.
  • The minister was asked about the percentage of testing devices manufactured in the UK by domestic diagnostic companies.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Neale Hanvey Lab Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath

The debate focuses on the UK Government's handling of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), domestic testing capacity, and vaccine procurement during the pandemic. Neale Hanvey criticised the government for alleged corruption in PPE contracts, abandonment of home-grown testing solutions like Operation Moonshot, and cancellation of a contract with Valneva for their vaccine development, which he views as undermining local industry and public health resilience.

Other contributors (1)
  • Michael Ellis Cons

    Acknowledges the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic but highlights successes such as the UK's leading position in vaccine roll-out. Defends government actions on PPE procurement, stating over 16 billion items of PPE have been secured and a safety stockpile is maintained.

Government Response

Neale Hanvey

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way again—he has been a great sport. I have one short question about the volume of testing devices. Does he have any indication of what percentage of the test devices that he has touted as the greatest number in the world were manufactured here in the UK by domestic diagnostic companies?

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