Recommendation 27

We recommended in our reports on the Department’s 2020–21 and 2021–22 Annual Reports and Accounts that the Department should develop a clear plan for a stockpile for a future pandemic. In response to our report on the 2021–22 Annual Report and Accounts, in September 2023 the Department told us that it was working closely with SCCL on the necessary volumes of PPE that were needed to provide resilience to future pandemics and was preparing advice on both short-term procurements and longer-term resilience. It committed to continuing to refine its approach over time based on the latest information available.48 When we asked for an update the Department reported that it was still deciding what stockpiles it needs for a future pandemic, and will also update 44 Qq 18–19; C&AG’s Report, Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts 2022–23, HC 33, 25 January 2024, page 224; Committee of Public Accounts, Sixty-Second Report of Session 2022–23, Department of Health and Social Care 2021–22 Annual Report and Accounts, HC 997, 5 July 2023, para 1; HM Treasury, Treasury Minutes – Government Response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Sixty-first to the Sixty- seventh reports from Session 2022–23, CP 941, September 2023, para 1.3 45 Qq 16–18; Committee of Public Accounts, Sixty-Second Report of Session 2022–23, Department of Health and Social Care 2021–22 Annual Report and Accounts, HC 997, 5 July 2023 46 Qq 24–25, 27, 32 47 Letter from Andy Brittain, Director General Finance, DHSC, to Dame Meg Hillier, Chair, Committee of Public Accounts, Re: Public Accounts Committee: DHSC Annual Report and Accounts 2022–23, dated 27 March 2024 48 Committee of Public Accounts, Sixty-Second Report of Session 2022–23, Department of Health and Social Care 2021–22 Annual Report and Accounts, HC 997, 5 July 2023, para 2; HM Treasury, Treasury Minutes – Government Response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Sixty-first to the Sixty-seventh reports from Session 2022–23