Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Our first report on NHST&T concluded that it was overly reliant on expensive contractors and...
Conclusion
Our first report on NHST&T concluded that it was overly reliant on expensive contractors and temporary staff. We found that by October 2020, it had signed 407 contracts worth £7 billion with 217 public and private organisations. By the end of December 2020, this had risen to over 600 contracts. We recommended that NHST&T should put 36 Qq 170–174, 178 ; C&AG’s Report, para 21 37 Qq 172–173, C&AG’s Report, para 21, 4.18 38 Q 154; C&AG;s Report para 8, 1.13–1.14 39 Q 119; C&AG’s report para 2.19 40 Qq 119, 154, C&AG’s Report, para 8, 1.13, 1.14 41 Q 40 42 Q 154 16 Test and Trace update in place a clear workforce plan and recruitment strategy which aimed to significantly reduce its reliance on consultants and temporary staff. As part of our previous inquiry, the Department assured us that it had plans in place to reduce NHST&T’s use of external consultants, but that this was dependent on the availability of civil service recruits to fill posts and on future demand for test and trace services.43 Despite this, NHST&T employed more consultants in April 2021 (2,239) than in December 2020 (2,164). As of April 2021, consultants accounted for nearly half of all NHST&T’s central staff.44
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: June 2022 5.2 The UKHSA wrote to the Committee on 16 December 2021 setting out how it has reduced its dependency on consultants. 5.3 The UKHSA continues to recruit civil servants to replace remaining management consultants as far as possible. COVID-19 response roles are generally offered on the basis of short-term loans, secondments and fixed term appointments to avoid a permanent increase in the size of the organisation; however, these are often less attractive, which reduces the supply of candidates. Work is underway to determine the strategy for managing future health threats and this will provide the longer-term certainty to enable the UKHSA to develop a sustainable resource plan with the agility to flex resources to reflect changing priorities and demands. 5.4 The UKHSA will write to the Committee with further progress updates in March 2022 and June 2022.