The United Kingdom wasted nearly £10 billion of taxpayer money on personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from the inquiry. Tens of millions of pounds were also spent on other equipment that proved unusable.
Baroness Heather Hallett, chair of the inquiry, criticized the "vast" waste, which accounted for approximately two-thirds of the total £14.9 billion spent by the UK and devolved governments on PPE. The report concluded that while it was prudent to procure excess PPE during a pandemic, supply should have been better aligned with demand.
"Better planning would have resulted in fairer, faster and less costly procurement decisions," the report stated. Hallett added that if ministers and officials had been better equipped with appropriate plans, information, and systems, procurement decisions would have been easier, fairer, and significantly less costly, ensuring equipment reached those in need more rapidly.
The inquiry examined what went wrong with the government's planning and purchasing of vital items such as gloves and gowns, which cost taxpayers billions of pounds. The focus was on identifying failures in the government's approach to acquiring essential supplies during the health crisis.