Recommendation 5

MHCLG and DHSC do not know whether 800,000 clinically extremely vulnerable people slipped through the net and missed out on much needed support. DHSC explains that it took a ‘multi-channel’ approach to engaging with those affected. Through this approach, it focused first on sending letters, then an email, then calls from the contact centre, which was established at a cost of £18.4 million. 1.8 million Covid 19: supporting the vulnerable during lockdown 7 people did not register their needs or respond when contacted by letter, so their details were passed to the contact centre for follow-up. However, the contact centre was unable to get in touch with around 800,000 vulnerable people, despite apparently making hundreds of thousands of calls every day. It took central government one month to pass the details of these people to local authorities, so local authorities could check if they needed help. Crucially, MHCLG has no knowledge of whether local authorities then managed to reach any or all of these people. Recommendation: MHCLG should urgently update the Committee on whether it has now successfully confirmed the support needs of all vulnerable people, including the additional 1.7 million people advised to shield in February 2021.