THE Government is still spending millions of pounds each week to store 13.2 billion items of unused PPE, the Sunday Mirror can reveal.
The staggering figure includes some 7.4 billion masks, gowns, gloves and other items which are being stored in warehouses in the UK - at a cost of £2.2 million a week.
In March, it was estimated 15 billion items were in storage - with 10% of that figure still in China waiting to be shipped.
Officials said at the time they were considering burning some protective equipment to cut storage costs.
Labour MP Nick Smith said: “The Government’s procurement of PPE has become a never-ending tale of expensive waste.”
In November it was revealed some PPE was being stashed in storage containers, rented at a cost of £1m a day.
And in February the Mirror reported the UK government was renting space in Shanghai to store items - with officials fearing the items will deteriorate because of being stored in such conditions.
Mr Smith added: “The health department has been trying to resolve disputed contracts worth £2.6bn since the start of 2022.
“The cost of storing its useless PPE is now upward of £2.2m per week.
“How much are the Government’s procurement failures going to end up costing the public purse? At a time of financial crisis, the Prime Minister needs to get a grip of this mess.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We continue to sell, donate, repurpose and recycle excess PPE in the most cost-effective way, as well as seeking to recover costs from suppliers wherever possible to ensure taxpayer value for money.
"We are also exploring innovative solutions to reprocess excess PPE into materials or new products that have further uses."
