Supply of raw materials for the production of non-medical face coverings

The Cabinet Office will purchase raw materials for use in the production of UK-compliant non-medical face coverings (Type IIR medical-grade masks in extremis), which are required to support the national effort to combat Covid-19.

Additional information: The text below is a continuation of paragraph 6 of Annex D1

• a.There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency: CO has responded to Covid-19 immediately due to public health risks presenting a genuine emergency. The raw materials were critical for the production of face coverings, it would not be possible to commence production without the raw materials.
• b.The events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable: The European Commission (Commissioner Breton - April 2020) has confirmed that the coronavirus crisis presents an extreme and unforeseeable urgency.
• c.It is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR: There was no time to run an accelerated procurement under the open, restricted or competitive procedures with negotiation that would allow CO to secure all of the raw materials in the immediate term. That is particularly so in light of the likely delays to any procurement timeline - for example, drafting the technical documents required for the ITT stage - and the operational and commercial risks for the other inter-related aspects of the Face Coverings Programme that would arise as a result of any hold-up with sourcing the raw materials.

Each individual component would require a separate tender process and delays to one element could delay production entirely.

• d.The situation is not attributable to the Contracting Authority: It has not done anything to cause or contribute to the need for extreme urgency.
• e.As far as is strictly necessary: The CO needed to act promptly as there is a substantial lead in time for the sourcing and delivery all of the raw materials, with some materials procured from China. A delay in sourcing and delivery of any of the raw materials has the risk of delaying production entirely. There was also price volatility to contend with due to international demand for face mask/covering associated raw materials, therefore CO needed to secure orders as soon as possible.