UK Inquiry Tracker

COVID-19: Supply of ventilators

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 24 Sep 2020 Closed: 25 Mar 2021 Parliament page

This inquiry continues our work on the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, focussing on the NAO’s investigation into the supply chains and procurement of ventilators. The NAO report will set out the facts about the government’s spending on efforts to rapidly increase the number of ventilators available to the … Read more

10 Recommendations

12 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

1 Letter

1 Event

Activity timeline 4 events

25 Mar
2021

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty seventh report from Session 2019-21

16 Mar
2021

Correspondence

Correspondence from Alex Chisholm, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, re Treasury Minute respons…

25 Nov
2020

Report published

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: Supply of ventilators

12 Oct
2020

Oral evidence

COVID-19: Supply of ventilators

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

12 Oct 2020

View on parliament.uk

COVID-19: Supply of ventilators

Alex Chisholm · Cabinet Office David Williams · Daily Mail Emily Lawson · NHS England and NHS Improvement Gareth Rhys Williams · Crown Commercial Service Sir Chris Wormald · Department of Health and Social Care

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: Supply of ventilators	HC 685	25 Nov 2020	22	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

12 results

5 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: …

Both programmes succeeded in part due to cross-government working and the expertise of key individuals...

Both programmes succeeded in part due to cross-government working and the expertise of key individuals involved. It is clear that both programmes were successful in part due to the involvement of different government departments that were best placed to carry … Read more

Government Response

The government accepts the recommendation and states that the Government Commercial Function is optimising skill development and deployment, with further activity underway to build commercial capability across government departments and the wider public sector, aiming to scale by March 2023.

HM Treasury

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6 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: …

The ventilator challenge produced intellectual property that should be exploited to maximise value for the...

The ventilator challenge produced intellectual property that should be exploited to maximise value for the taxpayer. The ventilator challenge produced a number of designs in a very short space of time, even though many did not go on to be … Read more

Government Response

The government accepts the recommendation, stating it has standard licensing terms for the ventilator designs it owns, though no revenue has been generated yet. It has also developed and shared a document outlining key innovation lessons from the Ventilator Challenge.

HM Treasury

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8 Conclusion Accepted

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: …

From February to April, NHSE&I’s estimate of how many mechanical ventilators the NHS would need...

From February to April, NHSE&I’s estimate of how many mechanical ventilators the NHS would need in a worst-case scenario changed repeatedly. Its estimates were based on reasonable worst-case planning assumptions assured by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), which … Read more

Government Response

The government agreed, outlining its purchase of thousands of ventilators and other equipment, and the implementation of a national loan process, asserting that sufficient stock and processes are now in place for trusts.

HM Treasury

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9 Conclusion Accepted

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: …

However, when the programmes began in early-March, departments were looking at a potential need of...

However, when the programmes began in early-March, departments were looking at a potential need of up to 90,000 mechanical ventilators, far more than the 7,400 thought to be available. The Department acknowledged that it was never going to be able … Read more

Government Response

Although the committee's item was a conclusion, the government states it agrees with a recommendation (which was not present) and that it has already implemented measures, detailing past purchases of ventilators and other equipment, and the establishment of a national loan process to ensure sufficient stock for the NHS.

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10 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: …

It is fortunate that the majority of the ventilators were not needed and that there...

It is fortunate that the majority of the ventilators were not needed and that there is now additional capacity if they should be required in the future. Nevertheless, we are concerned that the Department was not able to give a … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the recommendation and states it has implemented it, assuring themselves that the NHS has the right processes and sufficient stock of medical equipment to respond to the pandemic, through direct purchases and a national loan process.

HM Treasury

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13 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: …

We recognise that given the circumstances the Department had to move quickly.

We recognise that given the circumstances the Department had to move quickly. However, regardless of the circumstances, government regulations require departments to carry out due diligence on the organisations that they buy from and exclude organisations that do not comply … Read more We recognise that given the circumstances the Department had to move quickly. However, regardless of the circumstances, government regulations require departments to carry out due diligence on the organisations that they buy from and exclude organisations that do not comply with various environmental, social and labour laws”.20 The Department told us that it did its best to confirm that ventilators were the correct specification and that sellers were credible—this included looking into suppliers’ financial records, any investigations they had been part of, and anything published about them. When asked specifically whether it had, for example, looked into the issue of modern slavery in its supply chains, the Department said that it was not aware of any links to modern slavery as far as the manufacturers of the devices were concerned. However, it acknowledged that it had not looked at exactly where every component in the machine was produced at the time. The Department agreed to check back through its wider supply chains as far as it could to establish whether any links to modern slavery existed. It cautioned that certain aspects of the supply chain may be difficult to investigate.21 The Department wrote to us one month after the oral evidence session, having considered the matter further. It stated that it and the British Embassy in Beijing had worked closely with external due diligence service providers, to carry out open source checks on Chinese suppliers of ventilators procured during the peak of the pandemic, It said that this due diligence included public records and media checks designed to flag legal, political or reputational risks, including on modern slavery, and assured us that procurement processes were all in line with UK 17 Qq 50–51; C&AG’s Report, paras 3.2, 3.3 18 C&AG’s Report, para 3.10 & Figure 4 19 Qq 66,79 20 The Public Contracts Regulations 2015, sub section 7 21 Qq 71, 74–75 Covid-19: Supply of ventilators 13 procurement regulations during this Show less

Government Response

The government accepts the recommendation, stating that while urgent circumstances limited due diligence in some cases, most purchases used standard processes. It assures that past checks were appropriate and future needs for rapid emergency procurement will be reduced due to increased capacity and improved horizon scanning, reaffirming its commitment to high ethical standards and combating modern slavery.

HM Treasury

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14 Conclusion Accepted

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: …

The Cabinet Office’s ventilator challenge, which encouraged UK businesses to develop new ventilators from scratch...

The Cabinet Office’s ventilator challenge, which encouraged UK businesses to develop new ventilators from scratch and increase the production of existing products or modified designs, was undoubtedly a significant achievement. In total, it produced around 15,000 mechanical ventilators in the … Read more

Government Response

The government agreed and committed to updating the Sourcing Playbook by Spring/Summer 2021 to incorporate Ventilator Challenge lessons, which will also be captured as a case study for risk training and knowledge sharing sessions.

HM Treasury

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15 Conclusion Accepted

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: …

However, it is important to remember that the challenge did not take place under normal...

However, it is important to remember that the challenge did not take place under normal circumstances. Ventilator Challenge UK, the consortium of businesses that worked together to produce the Penlon ES02 ventilators, described the process as “working against a backdrop … Read more

Government Response

Although the committee's item was a conclusion, the government states agreement with a recommendation (which was not present in this item) and outlines a plan to update the Outsourcing Playbook by Spring/Summer 2021 to incorporate ventilator challenge lessons, capture them as a case study for training, and disseminate them through knowledge sharing sessions.

HM Treasury

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16 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: …

Nevertheless, there are clearly elements of the challenge which could be applied to future programmes.

Nevertheless, there are clearly elements of the challenge which could be applied to future programmes. For example, the Cabinet Office told us that it took a number of steps to ensure that suppliers costs were reasonable, such as working on … Read more

Government Response

The government accepts the recommendation and aims to update the Outsourcing Playbook by Spring/Summer 2021 to incorporate ventilator challenge lessons as a case study for risk training, ensuring these lessons are disseminated to government departments.

HM Treasury

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17 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: …

In any government programme, departments should aim to work collaboratively across government and to involve...

In any government programme, departments should aim to work collaboratively across government and to involve people with the right skills from the outset. Yet this is not something we always see in the programmes we report on.28 In this case, … Read more

Government Response

The government agreed and committed to optimising skill development and deployment within the Government Commercial Function, with a target of March 2023 for scaling up capability building and assessment across the wider public sector.

HM Treasury

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19 Conclusion Accepted

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: …

The Cabinet Office also drew on external expertise where required.

The Cabinet Office also drew on external expertise where required. We heard that the Chief Commercial Officer happened to have a background in running engineering and product development companies that meant he was well placed to develop and initiate the … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the recommendation (which it interpreted from the conclusion) and commits to optimising skill development and capability building in the commercial space across government, with a target date of March 2023 for achieving scale.

HM Treasury

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22 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-seventh Report - Covid-19: …

Designs are a type of intellectual property (IP), which if protected, can provide value for...

Designs are a type of intellectual property (IP), which if protected, can provide value for the owner.36 The Cabinet Office told us that it owns the IP for the designs it paid for and that it either owns all or … Read more

Government Response

The government accepts the recommendation, stating it owns ventilator designs and has standard licensing terms, although this has not yet generated revenue. It has also developed and shared a document outlining key innovation lessons from the challenge.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 22 of 10 classified

Accepted 12

Acknowledged 3

Deferred 1

Not Addressed 6

Total 10 recs + 12 conclusions

Correspondence 1 letter

16 Mar 2021 Correspondence from Alex Chisholm, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, re Treasury Minute response – Covid-19: Supply of Ventilators, dated 12 March 2021

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