Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

I would like to make a FOI request regarding the purchasing practices for COVID-19/SARSCov2 testing kits, chemical reagents and equipment.

In light of recent and historic disclosures on Thermo Fisher’s role in assisting the construction of a genomic surveillance program in China (working closely with the Chinese Police to specifically develop products used to identify the genotypes of Uyghur, Tibetan and Hui ethnic minorities), was this information about the business's role in China taken into account when deciding to give them the contract to supply the UK's coronavirus tests?

Further to this specific question can I also ask:

A. If these purchasing decisions took into account the ethical standing of the companies you were purchasing from or the country in which the company(s) is/are based or products manufactured?

B. If there is a formal policy that the government departments use to make such purchasing decisions generally and in this case? Please publish or direct me to those documents.

C. What was the specific total cost of this specific contract with Thermo Fisher for coronavirus testing kits, chemical reagents and equipment, and how many tests of each type (antigen, antibody) were purchased?

Yours faithfully,

Rob Davidson

Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

Please can you confirm that you received and are acting upon my FOI request from approx 1 month ago?

Yours faithfully,

Robert Davidson