Recommendation 23

There were also operational decisions which UKHSA and the Department took which meant that some form of accounts qualification was always likely. The Department decided not to count the stockpile of emergency goods transferred from Public Health England to the UK Health Security Agency on 1 October 2022. The Department’s view was that counting these stocks on the date of transfer would have compromised the autumn 2021 vaccine roll-out because it would have required the closure of warehouses.44 However, there were other inventories transferred to UKHSA, for example the NHS Test and Trace inventories transferred from the Department, where no stock counts were performed because the Department’s inventory management systems were not adequate.45 38 C&AG’s Report on UKHSA, p. 94. 39 C&AG’s Report on UKHSA, p. 94. 40 Q 21 41 C&AG’s Report on UKHSA, p. 93. 42 Q 22 43 Q 17 44 Qq 38, 51 45 C&AG’s Report on UKHSA, p. 94. 14 Department of Health and Social Care 2021–22 Annual Report and Accounts 3 Departmental group oversight Timely publication of the Annual Report and Accounts