Source · Select Committees · Treasury Committee
Recommendation 20
20
While death rates from coronavirus are high, the rationale for Government decisions on social restrictions...
Conclusion
While death rates from coronavirus are high, the rationale for Government decisions on social restrictions is well understood by the public. As the vaccines roll-out proceeds and death rates fall, Government decisions on whether or not to lift restrictions will become more finely balanced. We believe that economic analysis and modelling is essential to inform those decisions, alongside evidence of the other necessary infrastructure such as test, trace and isolate, and responses to new variants, being comprehensive and in place to mitigate against the need for a further lockdown. (Paragraph 105) 36 Economic impact of coronavirus: gaps in support and economic analysis
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Your report makes a number of recommendations regarding the Government’s economic analysis relating to the impact of COVID-19. Since the onset of the pandemic, the Government has taken decisions based on the health, economic and social impact of COVID-19 and associated public health measures. The Government has also studied the outputs of the academic literature on epi-macro modelling and benefited from discussions with leading academics. The Government has published a significant amount of analysis of the health, economic and social impact of COVID-19 and public health measures throughout the pandemic. This includes the analysis that underpinned the steps announced as part of the Government’s Roadmap out of lockdown. For the economy, this included the impacts on GVA and jobs in those sectors affected by restrictions over the last year, as well as information about the distribution of those impacts. The Government also commissioned advice and modelling from SAGE and its sub-groups in order to inform the pace and sequencing of the Roadmap.4