Recommendation 30

Given the uncertainty and plan to reduce test and trace activity we asked the Department whether UKHSA would have enough funding to operate going forward. The Department replied that this was under discussion.58 We asked the Department when we took evidence on 7 March 2022 when the UKHSA 2022–23 financial year budget would be known. The only answer the Department could provide was “soon”, and the Department would not say anything more precise, and did not feel able to even say whether “soon” might mean before the end of this financial or this calendar year.59 In written evidence after the session the Department told us it is highly likely, given the volatility of UKHSA’s pandemic related spending, that the final budget will not be agreed until the winter.60 Timely publication of Report and Accounts