Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

COVID-19 cost tracker update

Status: Closed Opened: 30 Apr 2021 Closed: 17 Nov 2021 6 recommendations 18 conclusions 1 report

The National Audit Office supports Parliament, and the Public Accounts Committee in particular, in our scrutiny of public spending and service delivery. During the pandemic the NAO has been tracking the cumulative costs of COVID-19 across Government , providing timely accounting information. The Committee will question senior officials at HM Treasury on the unprecedented levels … Show more

Reports

1 report

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Twelfth Report - COVID 19: Cost Tracker Update	HC 173	25 Jul 2021	24	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

2 items

13 Conclusion Twelfth Report - COVID 19: Cost Tracker… Acknowledged

HM Treasury reiterated what the Chief Secretary to the Treasury set out in his letter...

HM Treasury reiterated what the Chief Secretary to the Treasury set out in his letter of 1 April 2021 to the Chair of the Treasury Committee: that the COVID-19 pandemic is a national health emergency that has required a response by government without precedent in terms of speed and scale.16 … Read more

Government response AI summary

The government acknowledged the conclusion, reiterating that the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an unprecedented, flexible spending control framework, with decisions made amidst high uncertainty while still adhering to Managing Public Money standards.

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HM Treasury

14 Conclusion Twelfth Report - COVID 19: Cost Tracker… Acknowledged

HM Treasury used the example of vaccines development to explain how government took on necessary...

HM Treasury used the example of vaccines development to explain how government took on necessary risk, in this case to develop vaccines much more quickly than would usually have been the case. The rapid development of a vaccine was central to dealing with the pandemic and recovering from it, and … Read more

Government response AI summary

The government acknowledges the unprecedented nature of the pandemic response and HM Treasury's flexible approach, noting it is considering lessons learned for future crises and awaits conclusions from NAO studies on COVID-19 spending.

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HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session

Date	Witnesses
27 May 2021	Cat Little · Cabinet Office, Conrad Smewing · HM Treasury, Sir Tom Scholar · HM Treasury	View ↗

Who gave evidence

3 witnesses

Witness	Organisation	Sessions
Cat Little · Permanent Secretary	Cabinet Office	1
Conrad Smewing · Director General Public Spending and Head of the …	HM Treasury	1
Sir Tom Scholar · Permanent Secretary	HM Treasury	1

Correspondence

2 letters

Date	Direction	Title
31 Jan 2022	—	Correspondence from Sir Tom Scholar, Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury, re Covid…
18 Nov 2021	—	Correspondence from Tom Scholar, Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury, re Treasury …