Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Roll out of the COVID:19 vaccine programme

Status: Closed Opened: 26 Jan 2022 Closed: 8 Nov 2022 9 recommendations 23 conclusions 1 report

This inquiry follows on from our February 2021 report on the development and rollout of the first vaccines in the UK The Committee will question senior officials at DHSC, NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency on how well placed the government is to meet its full objectives for the COVID-19 vaccine programme , …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Eleventh Report - The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine progr… HC 258 13 Jul 2022 32 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

7 items
2 Recommendation Eleventh Report - The rollout of the CO… Accepted

Comparatively low vaccination uptake persists in many vulnerable groups and, after the first booster campaign,...

Comparatively low vaccination uptake persists in many vulnerable groups and, after the first booster campaign, has even dropped further for some. Overall uptake of COVID-vaccination has been high, reaching 90% of adults by the end of May 2022 (based on 2 doses). But some groups have seen much lower uptake. …

Government response. NHS England, supported by UKHSA, will evaluate approaches to vaccine delivery and work with local systems to continue evaluating different approaches to vaccine delivery, especially for communities where uptake and confidence may be lower. NHS England intends to continue offering …
HM Treasury
3 Recommendation Eleventh Report - The rollout of the CO… Accepted

NHS England has started planning for a reduction in vaccine sites and staffing for the...

NHS England has started planning for a reduction in vaccine sites and staffing for the rest of 2022 in anticipation of lower overall demand, but it is not yet clear how its strategy will strike the right balance between maintaining high 6 The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine programme in …

Government response. The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and states that NHSE wrote to the Committee on 31 October 2022 to provide an update on the outcome of assurance of local plans.
HM Treasury
4 Recommendation Eleventh Report - The rollout of the CO… Accepted

There is considerable learning from the COVID-19 vaccine programme that might apply elsewhere, both in...

There is considerable learning from the COVID-19 vaccine programme that might apply elsewhere, both in the health sector, such as screening programmes and routine vaccinations, and across wider government. In our March 2022 report on government preparedness for the pandemic, we noted the importance of learning lessons from the COVID-19 …

Government response. The government agreed to identify successes and lessons from the COVID-19 vaccine programme and communicate to the Committee the main improvements it will make as a result in other health programmes and wider government.
HM Treasury
7 Recommendation Eleventh Report - The rollout of the CO… Accepted

We were concerned that, in the week before the start of the new financial year,...

We were concerned that, in the week before the start of the new financial year, the Department had not finalised the allocation of its £9.6 billion Spending Review settlement for COVID-19 response activities, creating uncertainty for the vaccine programme. In the 2021 Spending Review, the Department received £9.6 billion for …

Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation and has set aside a minimum of around £2 billion of funding in the 2022-23 financial year for vaccine procurement and deployment against COVID-19. They plan to deliver a spring booster, roll out vaccinations …
HM Treasury
9 Conclusion Eleventh Report - The rollout of the CO… Accepted

Overall the evidence session indicated that officials were keen to learn lessons and saw clear...

Overall the evidence session indicated that officials were keen to learn lessons and saw clear potential benefits from doing so. However, it seemed likely to us that different organisations could be left to learn their own lessons and then to reach their own decisions about whether and to whom to …

Government response. The government agrees that there are lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, and NHSE is leading development of an integrated immunisations strategy, and the department will write to the Committee setting out the main improvements being made …
HM Treasury
14 Recommendation Eleventh Report - The rollout of the CO… Accepted

We are most concerned about the comparatively low vaccination uptake that persists in many vulnerable...

We are most concerned about the comparatively low vaccination uptake that persists in many vulnerable groups and, after the first booster campaign, has actually widened in some. For example, compared to people of White British origin, people of Black, Black British and Pakistani origins were less than half as likely …

Government response. The government agreed to evaluate approaches for increasing vaccine uptake in vulnerable groups and support local areas in deploying the most effective approaches, including fresh approaches to tackle low uptake in some ethnic groups.
HM Treasury
30 Conclusion Eleventh Report - The rollout of the CO… Accepted

The week before the start of the new financial year, the Department had still not...

The week before the start of the new financial year, the Department had still not finalised the allocation of its £9.6 billion Spending Review settlement for COVID-19 response activities, creating uncertainty for the vaccine programme. In the 2021 Spending Review, the Department received £9.6 billion for all its key COVID-19 …

Government response. The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and has currently set aside a minimum of around £2 billion of funding in the 2022-23 financial year for vaccine procurement and deployment against COVID-19.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
28 Mar 2022 Amanda Pritchard · NHS England, Dame Dr Emily Lawson · NHS England and NHS Improvement, Dr Jenny Harries OBE · UK Health Security Agency, Madelaine McTernan · Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Shona Dunn · Home Office View ↗

Correspondence

2 letters
DateDirectionTitle
8 Nov 2022 Correspondence from Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive, NHS England, re House of…
12 May 2022 Correspondence from Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive, NHS, re Follow up to the…