PPE waste costs Gov nearly £2m

Wednesday 31 May 2023

Expired and unusable PPE led to nearly £1.9m in government losses over the last two years.

The loss was revealed after Deputy Lyndsay Feltham asked Treasury Minister Ian Gorst for a breakdown of the losses and special payments referenced in the government's accounts for 2022, which showed these had increased from £5.4m in 2021 to £13.3m.

The answer to the written question showed that damaged and lost inventory accounted for £930,000 and £968,000 of government losses in 2021 and 2022 respectively, primarily due to covid PPE "which had expired or is not able to be used".

The significant rise in overall losses from 2021 to last year was mostly due to an £8.4 million "impairment" associated with the Our Hospital project, which means that some of the costs incurred by the previous scheme - to build a single facility at Overdale - will be written off as they do not contribute towards the revised plans currently being developed and due to be released today.

Other scrapped schemes which contributed to losses included improvements to the Greenfields secure unit for children (£43,000), mental health facilities at Overdale (£135,000), and a new premises for the Jersey Instrumental Service (£41,000).

Meanwhile, £175,000 was lost to overpaid Social Security benefits, down £75,000 from the year before.

Other losses for 2022 included over £1.5m in abandoned claims and bad debts - compared to nearly £1.2m in 2021 - which included £49,000 related to car parking.

Pictured: Treasury Minister Ian Gorst said that the increase in losses from 2021 to 2022 was "primarily" due to impaired hospital project costs.

"As identified in the Annual Report and Accounts for 2022, the increase in ‘Losses and Special Payments’ from 2021 to 2022 is primarily the result of an estimated impairment of £8.4 million in 2022 associated with the Our Hospital project," Deputy Gorst said.

"There is further detail in the published accounts on page 97, 213 and 244 to expand on this. The financial impact will continue to be reviewed as decisions are made."