Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Government lacked detailed plans for several aspects of the response to COVID-19, including financial support...
Conclusion
Government lacked detailed plans for several aspects of the response to COVID-19, including financial support to local authorities, identifying a large population advised to shield, and economic support schemes.23 A submission we received from an academic research group studying the issues concerning the early childhood education and care sector arising from the government’s initial pandemic response stated that preparedness for enabling that sector to switch into crisis mode in advance of the pandemic was generally poor.24 The Senior Responsible Owner for Universal Credit has stated that government had not made specific plans for unemployment surges colliding with a pandemic.25
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The government recognises that it lacked detailed plans for several aspects of the response to COVID-19, including financial support to local authorities, identifying a large population advised to shield, and economic support schemes. The government will draw on the lessons learned from the pandemic response to strengthen future planning. This will include considering how to ensure that government can reinstate economic support schemes at short notice without the implementation issues experienced when they were first introduced.