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Forty-Seventh Report - COVID-19: Test, track and trace (part 1)

Public Accounts Committee HC 932 Published 10 March 2021

Report Status

Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations

23 items (9 recs)

Source

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Government Response

AI assessment · 23 of 23 classified

Accepted 16

Accepted in Part 1

Acknowledged 2

Deferred 4

Government response

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty-seventh report from Session 2019-21 · published 31 Aug 2021

Read the government response ↗ Response on the Index

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 items

6 Recommendation Deferred

As we hope for longer-term and sustained reductions in infection levels, the Department needs to...

Recommendation

As we hope for longer-term and sustained reductions in infection levels, the Department needs to think about the future shape of national test and trace services, and how it will secure lasting benefits from its spending. NHST&T will be part … Read more As we hope for longer-term and sustained reductions in infection levels, the Department needs to think about the future shape of national test and trace services, and how it will secure lasting benefits from its spending. NHST&T will be part of the newly formed National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP). However, the Department has not set out the details or timetable for the establishment of NIHP, scheduled for April 2021. In allocating additional funds to NHST&T, the 2020 Spending Review outlined that this funding will be subject to review as the vaccine programme is rolled out. The Government is now accelerating the roll-out of vaccines across the country, but we have not seen 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 and the Department says it still needs to think through how best to wind down capacity at the appropriate time. The Department and NHST&T talk about leaving a legacy for the NHS through the vast investment in testing capacity, but they have not articulated even at a high level what this will be. We challenged NHST&T whether large testing centres were 8 COVID-19: Test, track and trace (part 1) the best way forward for the NHS, compared to having more testing capacity in local hospitals. NHST&T explained “there is not a single model” and that it is yet to “work through how it should evolve in a post-COVID world”. Recommendation: Within the next six to nine months, the Department should outline publicly its future strategy for testing and tracing services in England, including: • its timetable for transitioning to the new National Institute for Health Protection, • its exit strategy when infection levels reduce, including downscaling, mothballing and reallocating national and local capacity; • how it will cost-effectively maintain a degree of readiness for future surges of COVID-19 and other influenza-like infections; and • how it will Show less

Government Response Summary

The government agrees to outline its future strategy for testing and tracing by November 2021, stating that longer term plans are being considered and will be finalised with the new UK Health Security Agency Chair and Chief Executive before publication.

HM Treasury

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21 Recommendation Deferred

On 18 August, government announced that a new body, the National Institute for Health Protection...

Recommendation

On 18 August, government announced that a new body, the National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP), would subsume NHST&T, the health protection functions of PHE and the Joint Biosecurity Centre. The executive chair of NHST&T is also acting as interim … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation to publish details on the transition to the new UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), setting a target implementation date of November 2021. It confirms the UKHSA is being formally established in spring 2021, with longer-term plans currently under consideration and to be finalised with the new leadership before publication.

HM Treasury

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22 Conclusion Deferred

The 2020 Spending Review allocated £15 billion to NHST&T for 2021–22, to be kept under...

Conclusion

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 … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the (implied) recommendation to outline a future strategy by November 2021, stating that longer-term plans are being considered and will be finalised with the new UK Health Security Agency Chair and Chief Executive before publication.

HM Treasury

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23 Recommendation Deferred

Both the Department and NHST&T signalled the opportunity to generate a long- term legacy from...

Recommendation

Both the Department and NHST&T signalled the opportunity to generate a long- term legacy from the vast public investment in, and expansion of, diagnostic capacity.80 However, they have not yet articulated how this is going to happen: NHST&T told us … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government states that longer-term plans for the diagnostic capacity legacy are currently under consideration and will be finalised with the new Chair and Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency before publication.

HM Treasury

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