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Medical Equipment: Imports

Question for Department of Health and Social Care

UIN 38434, tabled on 21 April 2020

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will allocate funding to reimburse medical companies that import medical equipment necessary for the treatment by the NHS of patients with covid-19 for the increased costs of shipping that equipment from North America, Europe and Asia to the UK to meet the needs of the NHS.

This answer is the replacement for a previous holding answer.

Answered on

28 April 2020

The Government has announced a range of measures to assist industry and companies are able to draw on this unprecedented package of economic measures. These measures have been designed to ensure that companies of any size, including airports, airlines and the wider supply chain, receive the help they need to get through this difficult time.

The Government recognises that air freight plays an important role in supply chains and the importance that essential goods can continue to be brought into and out of the United Kingdom without disruption. COVID-19 presents unique risks to the movement of goods.

Because of this, the Department for Transport is working with different sectors to help ensure that essential goods can continue to be transported into the UK. This includes working closely with the aviation sector to support it to ensure there is sufficient capacity to protect global travel routes, continue freight and maintain vital connectivity.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Transport, other Government Departments and industry to feed into this ongoing work as well as monitor the impact of COVID-19 on medical supply chains and manage identified risks. For example, the Department of Health and Social Care has mobilised an Express Freight Service to support the continuity of supply of medicines and medical products and ensure the continued prioritisation of critical products.

This is complemented by the current work of the Civil Aviation Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority. The Civil Aviation Authority oversees and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the United Kingdom and is engaging airlines and airports to provide flexibility within the regulatory framework to help manage and mitigate COVID-19 impacts where appropriate. The Competition and Markets Authority, which has launched a COVID-19 pandemic taskforce to identify harmful pricing practices is advising the Government on the means of ensuring markets operate as well as possible.

Named day
Named day questions only occur in the House of Commons. The MP tabling the question specifies the date on which they should receive an answer. MPs may not table more than five named day questions on a single day.