Extract from oral answer
(lords) on Covid-19: Personal Protective Equipment
(Con): My
Lords, will my noble friend congratulate the company Industrial
Textiles & Plastics, which makes the much-needed impermeable
material for gowns, and Barbour and Burberry, which are
manufacturing these gowns—all, in this case, free of charge and
distributed through a Thirsk-based volunteer organisation organised
by local NHS trusts? Will the Government agree to use this model
for the manufacture and distribution of gowns through local
manufacturers and local distributors to disperse to NHS trusts?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health
and Social Care ()
(Con): My Lords, I share the noble Baroness’s endorsement of the
tremendous response from British manufacturing. Some 176 firms have
applied to the scheme and we are processing their suggestions. My
noble friend is a powerful advocate for
the Make programme. I thank in particular Don & Low,
Ineos and Survitec, which have already made a
considerable contribution to production...
To read all the exchanges, CLICK
HERE
Extract from Private
Notice Question on Covid-19: Personal Protective
Equipment
(Con): My Lords,
is my noble friend aware of a comment I read recently in an article
on BBC News online, which stated that the UK was incapable of
manufacturing PPE products? Does he agree that British
manufacturers and a number of others—such as schools, part-time
workers, people on furlough and many others—are most capable of
producing PPE products to a high standard? Is he further aware of a
recent survey conducted by the Manufacturer magazine, which
produced an extremely comprehensive and lengthy list of names, from
corporate giants such as IneosBAE Systems, Dyson
and JCB down to small, specialist, family-owned manufacturers, and
from many different corners of the UK manufacturing family?
: I
completely agree. I utterly reject the suggestion that British
manufacturers are incapable in this area. I share with my noble
friend, though, that this is a low-margin, high-volume game, and
those low-margin, high-volume manufacturers are largely found in
countries such as China, Turkey and Myanmar. That does not mean
that we cannot do local manufacture. We have had 25,000 offers of
support from businesses as of yesterday. We are processing those
responses, and 175 are through to an advanced round. We have
already had three companies deliver PPE goods to the NHS to help
our hard-working NHS and care workers...
To read all the exchanges, CLICK
HERE
