Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 4
4
The Department failed to provide adequate oversight to its arm’s length bodies (ALBs) and NHS...
Conclusion
The Department failed to provide adequate oversight to its arm’s length bodies (ALBs) and NHS trusts. Guidance issued by Civil Service Human Resources in December 2020 to accounting officers warned that novel financing arrangements, including salary advance schemes, required caution, and needed departmental accounting officer and HM Treasury approvals. The Department has indicated that owing to an oversight, it only recently cascaded the advice to its ALBs. The Department argues that it would not be normal practice for it to disseminate such advice to NHS trusts, because they are not ALBs of the Department, and so the guidance was not passed to NHS trusts. A number of NHS trusts subscribed to or piloted the Greensill Capital’s scheme, and following its collapse, some moved to paid-for scheme providers. There is also evidence that some salary advance scheme providers have sought and received endorsements from NHS staff and have used these along with the NHS logo and branding to promote their products online. Recommendation: The Department, working with NHSE&I, should adopt a formal process for ensuring that government advice is disseminated to NHS trust leadership for consideration and implementation if relevant. The plan should also include a protocol for ensuring that the NHS logo or brand is not exploited or used by unauthorised individuals or companies and that the staff code of practice includes a protocol for personal endorsements.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Recommendation implemented 4.2 The Public Contract Regulations apply to all public sector contracting authorities, including NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts. The Cabinet Office formulates public procurement policy and disseminates policy advice to the public sector through a process involving the publication of Procurement Policy Notices, such as PPN 04/2021, on GOV.UK. NHS England & Improvement’s (NHSE&I) Chief Commercial Officer is a member of the GCF which is a part of the Cabinet Office. However, as NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts are independent legal entities and not Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) of the department, it would not be normal practice to disseminate advice aimed at government departments and ALBs to the NHS where it is not operationally relevant; for example, the salary advanced scheme guidance, as this was not aimed at staff on NHS terms and conditions. 4.3 NHSE&I has a process for disseminating relevant government advice to NHS trusts. Relevant updates are included, for example, in their twice-weekly Healthcare Leaders Bulletin which brings together important updates for the NHS colleagues – this includes relevant updates from the department, other partners and stakeholders. NHSE&I also has a formal route to system leaders through its Single Point of Contact team – this route is only used for items requiring immediate attention, to ensure it is not overburdening the system with multiple separate communications.