Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 6
6
UKHSA has still not set out how it would like to work with local authorities,...
Conclusion
UKHSA has still not set out how it would like to work with local authorities, leaving them little time to plan for the new approach. The UKHSA was announced in March 2021 and is expected to be in place by the end of October 2021. However, NHST&T has still not finalised the operating model for the new organisation, meaning local authorities will have less than three months to plan for new arrangements. Local authorities play a vital and crucial role in public health, including in the response to COVID-19. We have previously criticised NHST&T for not properly engaging with important stakeholders, including local bodies. NHST&T has made progress in its relationship with local authorities and the UKHSA has committed to co-designing its new operating model with local stakeholders. At present, tracing often falls to the staff of local bodies and the additional time and effort this requires puts a strain on already stretched resources and may not be sustainable longer term. Our report earlier this year, on COVID-19 local government finance, highlighted how the pandemic had caused sudden and severe drops in local authorities’ income, whilst at the same time creating additional financial pressures from the need to deliver new services and increased costs and demand for existing services. 8 Test and Trace update Recommendation: The Department and UKHSA must urgently provide clarity to local government and other stakeholders about the future operating model. As part of this, it should ensure local authorities and other stakeholders have the resources to deliver their parts of the process. It should write to the Committee to provide an update on progress by the end of November 2021. Test and Trace update 9 1 Breaking the chains of COVID-19 transmission
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
agree with the Committee’s conclusion. The £16.5 billion extra funding from Spending Review 2020 will support the aims and priorities outlined in the Integrated Review to better counter developing and future threats. Further detail and a breakdown of the £16.5 billion will be provided in the upcoming equipment plan report for publication in February 2022, with a clear distinction between investment in new capabilities and managing the existing shortfall reported in our previous updates. As usual, this will be published alongside the NAO report. 6.3 Recognising the time taken to compile this significant edition of the Equipment Plan, the department has provided updates to the Committee following the publication of the Defence Command Paper in March 2021. The department wrote to the Committee on 22 June with detail of the investments and savings taken through the Integrated Review. The department wrote again to the Committee on 14 September 2021 in response to the Committee’s report on equipment contracts and set out more detail on the new capabilities which will cover. Twenty-Third Report of Session 2021-22 Department of Health and Social Care Test and Trace - Update Introduction from the Committee NHS Test and Trace Service (NHST&T) was set up in May 2020 as part of the Department of Health and Social Care (the Department). It provides: COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, where results are processed in laboratories, primarily for people with symptoms; and lateral flow device (LFD) testing, which give results in around 30 minutes and are used to identify people with COVID-19 who are not showing symptoms. Working with local authorities, it contacts people who have tested positive and their recent contacts to advise them to self-isolate, as well as providing telephone monitoring and support during the self- isolation period. It also supports the UK’s work on genomic sequencing of some PCR tests to track variant forms of COVID-19 and carries out other research and data analysis through the Joint Biosecurity Centre. NHST&T estimates that it spent £13.5 billion in 2020–21, an underspend of £8.7 billion against its budget. By the end of May 2021, NHST&T had dispatched 691 million lateral flow tests, with 96 million (14%) results registered. On 24 March 2021, the government announced that NHST&T would form part of the newly created UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). This transition is due to be complete by the end of October 2021. Based on a report by the National Audit Office, the Committee took evidence on Thursday 08 July from the Department of Health and Social Care, UK Health Security Agency and the former Head of NHST&T. The Committee published its report on 27 October 2021. This is the government’s response to the Committee’s report. Relevant reports • NAO report: Test and Trace in England - Progress Update – Session 2021-22 (HC 295) • PAC report: Test and Trace - Update – Session 2021-22 (HC 182)