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<p>As of 15 May, over 13,000 businesses have contacted the Government with offers
of help on supplying personal protective equipment (PPE). Many are related to the
manufacture of PPE for the National Health Service and care sectors, a vast majority
of which we are taking forward, predominantly from United Kingdom based companies
but also including multinational companies. Some offers were not progressed due to
financial and capability considerations.</p><p><br> The Department engages directly
with potential manufacturers to qualify and prioritise the opportunity, based on availability
of and access to raw supplies, lead-times to manufacture, and other commercial considerations.
Product prototypes are submitted to a Technical Product Review process, to ensure
they meet essential health, safety and quality standards for PPE. Financial due diligence
and fraud prevention measures are also undertaken, after which the Department can
contract with the manufacturer.</p><p> </p><p>Lord Deighton is leading the Government’s
efforts to secure sufficient PPE and ensure this gets to where it is needed. He is
also driving forward coordination of the end-to-end process design and manufacture
of new domestic PPE supplies. As at 15 May, the Department has entered into contract
and placed orders with eight manufacturers to provide millions of items of PPE products
to the National Health Service and carers. The volumes will increase in the coming
weeks.</p><p> </p>
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