Recommendation 11

We challenged HM Treasury on why several departments are not able to provide the NAO with a complete assessment of the costs and spend of their COVID-related activity. We heard how there are measures for which estimating the lifetime cost is difficult because of a lack of evidence upon which to base cost estimates, and how some departments have concentrated on the quality of estimates rather than producing more timely, but rougher, 7 Qq 1, 2 8 Qq 3, 14 9 Q 1 10 Qq 3, 4, 6, 7 11 Qq 12, 13 12 Qq 5, 16, 17, 22 10 COVID 19: Cost Tracker Update estimates. HM Treasury drew attention to two groups of government measures where evidence is lacking: those measures that have yet to start, and those that relate to tax where the effect has not yet been seen. There are measures where the cost will depend on take- up, and that in turn will depend on the progress of the pandemic, for example the cost of the testing programme. HM Treasury expects the estimated total cost of the pandemic to change over time and expressed confidence that it would have a much clearer assessment of the total cost of the pandemic within the next 12 months.13