Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 1
1
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...
Conclusion
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC), Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), and NHS Digital about protecting and supporting clinically extremely vulnerable people during lockdown.1
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
On 22 March 2020, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that those people in England who faced the highest risk of being hospitalised by COVID-19 should shield themselves and stay at home. DHSC eventually identified some 2.2 million people as those most clinically vulnerable to COVID-19 and advised them to shield. Government set up the shielding programme to provide support - access to food, medicines and basic care - to people shielding. Government spent £308 million providing this support. Based on a report by the National Audit Office, the Committee took evidence, on Monday 22 February 2021 from the Department of Health & Social Care, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and NHS Digital. The Committee published its report on 21 April 2021. This is the government response to the Committee’s report.