Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
16
Rejected
The NAO reported that government had no formal, agreed articulation of how competing objectives for...
Conclusion
The NAO reported that government had no formal, agreed articulation of how competing objectives for implementation of the system as a whole should be balanced and prioritised. We asked how government ensured that the seven separate programmes worked together to protect health without suppressing economic activity. The Cabinet Office stated that its number one goal was public health, with a secondary goal of maximising freedom where possible.28 Creating a market for PCR travel tests
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the committee's recommendation regarding the balancing and prioritisation of competing objectives, stating that they did take on board many of the CMA's recommendations and detailing actions taken.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
5.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 5.2 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation as it did take on board many of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) recommendations. 5.3 When travel testing launched in Spring 2021 there was insufficient capacity in the NHS to provide testing. The government needed to grow a private market to meet this challenge, which involved striking the right balance between development and regulation of a market. 5.4 After the CMA published its report UKHSA held regular engagement with the CMA and took action to improve the service providers were giving. 5.5 UKHSA removed over 340 providers from the travel testing list (Recommendation B), carried out c500 checks into the accuracy of pricing per week (Recommendation E), and helped ensure the test price dropped by c60% between August 2021 and February 2022 by regularly reducing the price of the government-provided tests (Recommendations D and E). 5.6 Specific actions taken: • All new providers had their prices audited before being added to the approved list. • Daily spot checks were carried out on all prices under £15 for accuracy and availability, and a sample of those over £15. • All price change requests were audited before going live on gov.uk. • Instigated a monitoring system of provider performance to ensure high quality service and removed a significant number of providers who did not meet the minimum requirements (Recommendation A). • Enhanced the test provider listing on gov.uk by adding new filters to allow customers to make more accurate searches. (Recommendation F). • Introduced world leading test validation regulations and a three-stage accreditation process to ensure that only high quality, accurate tests could be sold (Recommendation C) 5.7 If health measures were re-introduced, the UKHSA would continue to learn the lessons from previous iterations of travel testing, including the CMA recommendations. The exact measures to implement would depend on the context and circumstances in which the UKHSA were operating.