UKIP might get 15-20% in Southend West although Southend East would have been a much better prospect for them theoretically speaking. West is the posher of the two constituencies. For a long time Teddy Taylor was MP for East and Paul Channon for West and they were both good fits for their seats.
"ITV News reveals £8.7 billion of losses on PPE in government accounts
Buried on page 199 of the Department of Health and Social Care’s annual report published yesterday is the shocking disclosure that it has incurred £8.7 billion of losses - £8.7 billion! - on £12.1 billion of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) bought in 2020/21. Think about how that money could have been deployed in hospitals. Surely there needs to be a statement from Sajid Javid to Parliament about this. Here is the excerpt from the DHSC annual report: “The Department estimates that there has been a loss in value of £8.7 billion of the £12.1 billion of PPE purchased in 2020-21."
The impairment relates to: £0.67 billion - "PPE which cannot be used, for instance because it is defective." £2.6 billion - "PPE which is not suitable for use within the health and social care sector but which the Department considers might be suitable for other uses (although these potential other uses are as yet uncertain)." £0.75 billion - "PPE which is in excess of the amount that will ultimately be needed." £4.7 billion - "Adjustment to the year-end valuation of PPE due to the market price of equivalent PPE at the year-end being lower than the original purchase price."
The last one is not a real loss. If it was, we'd all be wailing all the time about the value of the milk in the fridge had declined since we'd bought it.
If it relates to stock still held, then we rather badly overstocked the fridge with milk.
We did.
But then again, it was a sensible precaution to have too much PPE. If other countries had banned exports, we'd have complained about lack of preparation.
France did ban exports which is why the NHS had to scrabble for PPE when the huge precautionary order they had placed in January from their main French supplier was blocked by Macron.
How lucky for Starmer that these "successes" happened under a Tory administration. Under a Labour govt, they would undoubtedly be seen as exemplars of the failure of socialism....
Indeed. I am not sure how an accounting error of £9b or the equivalent of 14 new hospitals can be put down to a quirk of precautionary stockholding.
Did you want the PPE or not? Because you had to pay through the nose for it in mid 2020. Only £600m in defective equipment is surprisingly low.
In mid-2020, there were no vaccines, we'd had a debilitating Covid wave, and the French had banned PPE exports.
Yes, we probably overpaid. But if the world had turned out even slightly differently, this purchase would have been seen as a masterstroke.
There is much to criticise about our government. Overpaying somewhat for PPE equipment at the height of Covid is not near the top of the list.
Comments
Yes, we probably overpaid. But if the world had turned out even slightly differently, this purchase would have been seen as a masterstroke.
There is much to criticise about our government. Overpaying somewhat for PPE equipment at the height of Covid is not near the top of the list.