UK prevented from donating ‘tens of millions’ of PPE items to poorer nations due to Whitehall red tape

Exclusive: Britain has an excess of aprons, masks and gloves, but attempts to donate PPE overseas have been hindered by bureaucratic barriers

The UK has been prevented from donating “tens of millions” of surplus PPE items throughout the pandemic due to Whitehall red tape, The Independent understands.

Britain has an excess of personal protective equipment in its stockpile, which has been acquired at a “significant cost” – roughly £12bn, according to one Whitehall source.

But attempts to donate surplus supplies of gloves, aprons and masks to poorer countries over the past 18 months have been hindered by a financial cap set by the Treasury and the Foreign Office.

Up until September, international donations counted as overseas development assistance (ODA). For the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), its annual foreign aid budget was set at £160m.

“That was the hard barrier we could spend on ODA,” said one Whitehall source. “In February/March 2021, we had PPE valued more than that which we had spare and at risk of expiry.

“[But] we’d already spent our ODA allocation for the year.

“We didn’t lobby HMT for the waiver of this rule as the mood music coming from FCDO was that they wouldn’t support us.”

It took seven months for the rule to be eventually dropped, during which time millions of excess gloves, aprons and masks are feared to have expired.

“There was anxiety that wastage could top tens of millions or more,” the source said. “Which is why not being able to donate it overseas become so problematic. Because that would prevent waste and improve healthcare overseas.”

By the end of 2020, global demand for surgical masks, gloves and face shields had reached 2.2 billion, 1.1 billion and 8.8 million respectively, according to Unicef estimates, at a time when the UK was growing its PPE stockpile. In June 2021, the UK had amassed around 12.6 billion items of PPE.

Throughout the pandemic, the DHSC has only donated excess PPE supplies to Nepal and Lebanon, 20,000 and 187,000 items respectively, which counted towards the department’s ODA budget. Some 300,000 items of PPE have also been handed to the UK’s Overseas Territories.

The Whitehall source said the Lebanon donation, made in summer 2020, was not publicised as officials were worried that it would cast the department in a bad light for over-buying PPE.

They added: “I said the bigger bad news is knowing we have got PPE near its sell-by date and not donating it.”

Global health groups and charities have condemned the government for not doing enough to support countries in need.

Oxfam said it was wrong that the “arbitrary cap” had gotten in the way of “common sense”.

Anna Marriott, the charity’s health policy manager, said: “We are still in the midst of a global pandemic and the government should not be counting any kind of excess items that can help – whether PPE or vaccines – as aid.”

Global Justice Now said it was another example of “just how much of an obstacle the British government currently is to defeating the Covid pandemic around the world”.

Nick Dearden, director of the UK campaign group, said: “Just like with vaccines, the government has grabbed all the Covid-19-related equipment it can, regardless of whether we need it or not.

“Throughout this pandemic, Britain has behaved like an imperial power – taking what it can, demanding even more, and giving nothing back.”

The government ordered a “massive” amount of PPE at the start of the pandemic as initial projections estimated that around 600,000 people would die from Covid in 2020. The stockpile was purchased at a “significant cost,” the source said.

While attempts to donate the PPE abroad have been undermined by bureaucratic red tape, Whitehall officials have also been tasked with selling the excess supplies to care home providers and the devolved administrations.

The DHSC said that it became clear in September 2021 that the department had more PPE than it needed for the pandemic, though one internal email shows that officials were aware back in spring that the government had an “excess” of items in its stockpile.

The email also showed ministers had been briefed earlier in the year on the recommendation that surplus PPE donated abroad should not count towards ODA.

It warned that items of PPE would expire unless they were sold to the devolved administrations or repurposed, and said that the DHSC could fall under criticism from the National Audit Office if the UK’s stockpile remained too high.

In July 2021, the Public Accounts Committee raised concern that wastage levels were “unacceptably high”.

It found that 10,000 shipping containers of PPE had still to be unpacked by May and that 2.1 billion items of protective equipment had already been found unsuitable for use in medical settings, costing the taxpayer £2bn.

The DHSC said it was in discussions alongside the FCDO to donate excess PPE supplies to several countries and organisations.

A spokesperson added: “We have worked tirelessly to source life-saving PPE, delivering more than 15.7 billion items to protect frontline health and care staff. We always look to make the best use of our available PPE and this includes using surplus PPE to support international partners – with donations so far given to Lebanon and Nepal.”