Recommendation 20

We have previously highlighted the danger that reluctance to evaluate COVID-19 measures will result in departments learning lessons too late and embedding problems of design, delivery and effectiveness of response schemes which will need to adapt over time.43 HM Treasury told us that for the government’s major support schemes, it had been trying 37 Q 27; Committee of Public Accounts, COVID-19: Government procurement and supply of Personal Protective Equipment; C&AG’s Report, Investigation into government procurement during the COVID-19 pandemic, para 23 38 Qq 25–27; Letter from the Cabinet Office, 24 June 2021 39 Royal Statistical Society (Ev ILG0017); Rachel Allsopp (Ev ILG0011); Dr Jim McConalogue (Ev ILG0013) 40 Q 19; HM Government, COVID-19 Response – Spring 2021, CP 398, February 2021 41 Q 89; C&AG’s Report, para 26 42 Qq 14, 89–90 43 Fifth Annual Report of the Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, para 26; Committee of Public Accounts, COVID-19: Support for children’s education, HC 240, Session 2019–21, 20 May 2021 Initial lessons from the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic 17 to learn lessons as it went and, where necessary, it had adapted the schemes to incorporate those lessons. It noted that fuller evaluations of these schemes will be conducted later this year.44 Government’s communications