The British government made mistakes when sourcing protective gear
Not all of them were bad
STORING TENS of billions of surgical masks, gowns and gloves is expensive, it turns out. By the end of 2021 the government had spent about £737m ($967m) for the privilege of owning unused personal protective equipment (PPE) bought in a panic during the pandemic. Although £301m of this was normal storage fees, such as renting warehouses, the majority was fines. It racked up £436m in the logistics equivalent of parking tickets—charges for leaving goods in shipping containers because it had nowhere to put them.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “When waste is worth it”
Britain April 2nd 2022
From the April 2nd 2022 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Britain
Britain’s brokers are diversifying and becoming less British
London’s depleted stockmarket is forcing them to change
What a buzzy startup reveals about Britain’s biotech sector
Lots of clever scientists, not enough business nous
Britain’s government lacks a clear Europe policy
It should be more ambitious over getting closer to the EU
The Rachel Reeves theory of growth
The chancellor says it’s her number-one priority. We ask her what that means for Britain