Recommendation 7

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 all its key COVID-19 programmes throughout the three-year spending review period. But when we took evidence on 28 March, the Department still could not tell us how it would distribute funding among different programmes for 2022–23, including the vaccine programme. It also had not finalised the 2022–23 budget for UKHSA, which has key roles in COVID-19 vaccine storage and distribution, and monitors and analyses vaccine coverage and effectiveness. There are many 8 The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine programme in England other parts of the vaccine programme, including GPs and pharmacies, external contractors, volunteer schemes, local authorities and temporary staff, that are central to successful delivery and also need timely confirmation of funding. Meanwhile, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was expected to continue funding efforts to boost domestic vaccine manufacturing capacity. Recommendation: Departments should always set out annual budgets and funding for their key bodies and programmes in good time, only using supplementary estimates to manage uncertainties as they arise later in the financial year. For the vaccine programme, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy should, as part of the Treasury Minute response to this report, confirm the agreed funding for the main elements of the vaccine programme for 2022–23 and any subsequent financial years, alongside a clear statement of the aims and targets the programme needs to achieve with this funding. The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine programme in England 9 1 Learning lessons and maximising uptake