Recommendation 22

The 2020 Spending Review allocated £15 billion to NHST&T for 2021–22, to be kept under review as the vaccine programme rolled out.77 The government is now accelerating the roll-out of vaccines across the country, but we are yet to see a future strategy for test and trace in response. NHST&T anticipates a continuing need for large-scale testing and tracing alongside the vaccine programme, emphasising that vaccines and test and trace are not “either/or” strategies. The Department noted that there were still many unknowns about the vaccine, and that it still needed to think through how best to wind down test 69 C&AG’s Report, para 1.24 70 Qq 16, 24, 37, 120, 145–146, 71 Qs 24, 37, 93, 120 72 C&AG report, para 19; LGA submission 73 Qq 93–95 74 Qq 77–81 75 C&AG’s Report, para 1.24 76 C&AG’s report, para 1.21; https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-creates-new-national-institute- for-health-protection 77 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2020-documents/spending-review-2020 COVID-19: Test, track and trace (part 1) 17 and trace capacity at the appropriate time, and what kind, and level, of capacity would be required in the longer-term.78 If the country does reach a situation where outbreaks of COVID-19 are more localised and sporadic, exhaustive and prompt testing and tracing in those areas will be essential, as outlined in World Health Organisation guidance.79