A team of Military Logistic Support Experts are working alongside UK Police on the logistic supply chain for Personal Protective Equipment. This police-led initiative will ensure that supplies of PPE continue to meet the needs of police forces across the UK. This move is part of the national effort to ensure frontline workers receive the equipment that they need to continue their vital role in protecting the public in response to COVID-19.
Forces across the UK are now capturing their PPE requirements and feeding them directly into the new National Police Central Logistics Hub in Oxfordshire. This central supply chain, led by UK Police and supported by 4th Regiment Royal Logistics Corps, will ensure that police officers and staff receive the very best protection to mitigate the risks presented by public-facing roles during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new Hub, launched last Wednesday, is already taking orders and will be making deliveries to forces as far and wide as the West Midlands, Cumbria and Central London. Speaking from the Hub on Easter Sunday, a soldier from 4th Regiment Royal Logistics Corps said: ” It’s really good to be here supporting and helping the country where needed. The police are very much like the military in culture and ways of working, and it’s great to offer up our specialist skills to assist in the fight against Coronavirus.”
Superintendent Hannah Wheeler, UK Police lead for Personal Protective Equipment, described the project as “partnership working at its finest. Using the vast logistical experience of military colleagues to get much needed equipment to local forces to protect our officers and staff, so that they can do their jobs and keep communities safe.”
In addition to meeting the PPE needs of frontline police, the Military specialists are assisting with mentoring and planning advice on forecasting, national stock control, inventory management and scaling, and national distribution management. The aim of this central distribution hub is to bolster the existing police team at a time of unprecedented demand, to enable a longer-term commercial solution to mature.
National Gold Commander for the Covid-19 response, Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, has described this joint police and military initiative as “a game changer that is stabilising the supply chain of PPE to frontline police during this challenging time”.