Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 4
4
NHST&T’s approach to laboratory and contact centre usage is still not flexible enough to meet...
Recommendation
NHST&T’s approach to laboratory and contact centre usage is still not flexible enough to meet changing demand and risks wasting public money. In 2020–21, NHST&T paid £3.1bn to secure the laboratory capacity to process PCR tests and £911 million for contact tracing, primarily on contact centres. However, NHST&T used only a minority of the laboratory and contact centre capacity it paid for. Between November 2020 and April 2021, the average utilisation of its laboratories was 45%. In December 2020, the Department said 85% of laboratory capacity could safely be used. In June it said this figure was 80% and in July UKHSA said that it may actually be closer to 70%. NHST&T does not have a target utilisation rate for its laboratories, but at 45%, the utilisation rate is well below the threshold of laboratory capacity that is available. NHST&T has a 50% target utilisation rate for its contact Test and Trace update 7 centre staff, but the highest reached was 49% at the beginning of January 2021 and this had fallen to 11% by the end of February 2021. Over Christmas 2020, when there appeared to be spare laboratory capacity and COVID-19 cases were rising, performance declined and it took longer to provide test results, with only 17% of people receiving test results within 24 hours in December 2020. NHST&T plans to move to a more flexible approach for both laboratories and contact centres, so there should be less need in future to hold unused capacity. Recommendation: UKHSA should establish and monitor clear utilisation targets for both the laboratory and contact centre capacity it pays for. In January 2022, it should write to the committee to provide an update for laboratory and contact centre utilisation for the first 9 months of 2021–22.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
agree with the Committee’s conclusion. The department has a track record of delivering savings; the underlying cost of the Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) managed element of the Equipment Plan has reduced by £5.4 billion since 2015, excluding Foreign Exchange or Front-Line Customer requirement changes. £5.7 billion of independently assured efficiencies have also been realised by DE&S since 2015. 4.3 Systems are in place to identify and share lessons as programmes are delivered and the department is working hard to ensure that Learning from Experience (LfE) information becomes increasingly standardised. The National Audit Office (NAO) report specifically commented favourably on some of the improvements that the department has made including the use of industry leading tools and processes for managing project delivery. DE&S, the MOD’s principal project Delivery Agent, has recently successfully achieved ISO9001 certification and the independent national certifying body commented specifically on the strong business information that drives performance throughout the portfolio and the continuous improvements that the organisation undertakes. 4.4 The most complex programmes are subject to regular deep dives by the department's most senior staff, providing support and challenge to SROs. MOD executives also regularly meet with industry chief executives of some of the most demanding projects. 4.5 In 2018, the department established a Strategic Partnering Programme (SPP) which is based on good practice principles, transparency and sharing of data and lessons between supplier and commissioner. Category management, also mentioned positively in the NAO report, is in place to support the MOD to deliver £628 million of cashable savings through more efficient ways of working. 4.6 The department is also implementing an Acquisition and Approvals Transformation Programme to improve programme delivery and embed continuous improvement. Proportionate, tailored, risk-based approaches to acquisition are being developed to drive increased pace while maintaining rigour in investment decision-making.