Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted
We were concerned that, in the week before the start of the new financial year,...
Recommendation
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
Government Response Summary
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 to 5-11 year olds, and deploy an autumn booster, while maintaining the capability to expand or accelerate the programme.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
7.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: Spring 2023 7.2 Funding for the vaccine procurement and deployment programme is held within DHSC budgets. The delivery responsibility for procurement sits with the Vaccine Task Force joint unit, and for the deployment programme with the NHSE vaccine programme director as Senior Responsible Owner. The department recognises the importance of setting annual budgets and funding in good time. Ahead of the start of 2022-23, this process was unfortunately delayed in part due to the response to the Omicron variant, and while the Living with Covid strategy was being developed and agreed. 7.3 The department 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. 7.4 For the 2022-23 financial year, the department is set to have delivered a spring booster to the most vulnerable adults, rolled out vaccinations to 5-11-year-old children, and deployed an autumn booster to adults aged 50 and over, clinical risk groups and frontline health and social care workers. This is as well as a continued offer to vaccinate those eligible from last year’s campaigns and maintaining the capability to expand or accelerate the programme, similar to what was required following the emergence of the initial Omicron variant last FY. As the country learns to live with COVID it is a possibility that the programme will need to adjust its course throughout the year and deploy to further cohorts should that be needed, and in accordance with JCVI recommendations. Budget allocations are therefore subject to change in response to these modifications to the vaccine programme.