£150 million wasted by Government on useless PPE could have covered the cost of free school meals until Easter, says Labour

Monday, 26 October 2020 22:30

The amount of money the Government has wasted on a single PPE contract for unusable face masks could have all but paid for free school meals until next Easter, new analysis by Labour reveals. In April the government signed a £252 million contract with the private equity company Ayanda Capital to supply PPE. The contract included almost £150 million in face masks that didn’t meet requirements for use by frontline healthcare workers. Labour estimates that it would cost the...Request free trial

The amount of money the Government has wasted on a single PPE contract for unusable face masks could have all but paid for free school meals until next Easter, new analysis by Labour reveals.

In April the government signed a £252 million contract with the private equity company Ayanda Capital to supply PPE. The contract included almost £150 million in face masks that didn’t meet requirements for use by frontline healthcare workers.

Labour estimates that it would cost the Government £157 million to supply free school meals to every eligible child in the country until the end of the Easter holidays next year.

Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, said:
“The Chancellor didn’t bat an eyelid when millions of pounds of public money were wasted on PPE that couldn’t be used.

“Yet when it comes to keeping kids fed this Christmas, he has nothing to offer but humbug.

“This Chancellor has got his priorities wrong. He won’t budge on a circuit breaker that could save lives and livelihoods. He’s waited to the last possible minute to deliver additional economic support for areas under local restrictions. Now he’s letting kids go hungry at Christmas.

“He’s not helping out – he’s standing in the way.”

Ends

Notes to editors

At least £150m of a £252m face masks contract with Ayanda Capital was wasted due to the unsuitability of one type of mask ordered:
‘Adviser in £150m PPE scandal is axed’, The Times, 12 August 2020, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/adviser-in-150m-ppe-scandal-is-axed-5nw2mnct3

The House of Commons estimates the cost of providing free school meals at £15 per week per pupil. With an estimated 1.4 million pupils eligible for FSM in England as of January 2020 (Schools pupils and their characteristics: 2020, DfE (Main Tables, Table 4c), the maximum weekly cost of providing food shopping vouchers for the autumn half term is estimated to be around £22 million. The Christmas and Easter holidays would add around £44 million each and the spring half term a further £22 million. That comes to a total of £132 million, which when 18.6% Barnett consequentials are taken into account results in a figure of around £157 million.