Recommendation 3

Government risks undermining public trust and accountability for the pandemic response because of departments’ repeated failure to provide a full rationale for key decisions. We recognise that the pandemic has required departments to work at speed in difficult circumstances. But, as we have found in our previous examinations of the response to the pandemic, proper record keeping of how decisions are made and by whom is key for public confidence and to demonstrate value for money for the taxpayer. A key element of this is being transparent about the data on which decisions are made, the assumptions which have been used, and the uncertainty and limitations of the data used. Yet, government has often failed to publish full cost-benefit analyses or the data and statistics that it cites as evidence for key policy decisions. Government has also failed to publish the details of contracts awarded during the pandemic in a timely fashion. Of the 1,644 contracts awarded across government up to the end of July 2020 with a value over £25,000, 75% were not published within the 90-day target. This risks negatively affecting public perception of government’s openness and accountability for public money. Most of the contracts awarded up to the end of July 2020 were awarded by the Department and its national bodies. Recommendation: The Department should update us by 31 October 2021 on the number of contracts awarded during the pandemic that are yet to be published. • In the longer term, the Cabinet Office should ensure that lead departments for each of the main pandemic response programmes publish post-project evaluations in a timely manner. These should provide an evidence-based assessment of each project’s impact and the extent to which it met its objectives.