Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic
Public Accounts Committee
Closed
Inquiry
Putting cross-border travel measures in place during the COVID-19 pandemic often at speed to time-pressured deadlines then adapting and sustaining them required considerable efforts by government and others. Although individual departments have been monitoring their own spending on implementing cross-border travel measures in response to COVID-19, the National Audit Office …
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10
Recommendations
20
Conclusions
1
Report
1
Oral session
2
Letters
1
Event
Activity timeline 6 events
14 Oct
2022
2022
26 Jul
2022
2022
5 Jul
2022
2022
14 Jun
2022
2022
23 May
2022
2022
23 May
2022
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
23 May 2022
View on parliament.uk
Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic
Alex Chisholm · Cabinet Office
Gareth Davies · Department for Transport
Patricia Hayes · Home Office
Phil Douglas · Border Force
Shona Dunn · Home Office
Reports 1 report · click to expand
| Title | HC No. | Published | Items | Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-border travel during the COVID… | HC 29 | 26 Jul 2022 | 30 | Responded |
Recommendations & Conclusions
30 results
2
Recommendation
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
Government does not know whether it achieved value for money from the £486 million that...
Government does not know whether it achieved value for money from the £486 million that it spent implementing measures. Government did not track spending on implementing health measures, but the National Audit Office estimated that, across the five Departments involved, …
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Government Response
HM Treasury will consider what additional guidance should be issued to departments on how cross-government portfolios should report and track their overall cost on an ongoing basis, as part of ongoing work looking at improving joint working across government. HM Treasury will write to the Committee with an update by Spring 2023.
HM Treasury
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3
Recommendation
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
Government’s failure to communicate the reasons for frequent changes to health measures made it hard...
Government’s failure to communicate the reasons for frequent changes to health measures made it hard for the public to understand and adhere to them. Ministers changed the rules that people had to follow under the traffic light system at least …
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Government Response
The government agrees and notes key lessons learned on communicating with the public through cross-channel campaigns, including the need for agile approaches, research and feedback sessions, simple language, mutually supported communications, strategic communications, volume, clarity, timeliness, paid-for media, and communication through local, regional and national partners.
HM Treasury
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4
Recommendation
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
Government did not strike the right balance between its reliance on the travel industry to...
Government did not strike the right balance between its reliance on the travel industry to implement travel controls and the support it provided. Carriers were legally responsible for checking that everyone travelling to the UK had submitted a Passenger Locator …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation, recognising the important role that transport operators played in enabling the UK’s COVID-19 border response and the speed they had to adapt their operations to the changing situation. As part of contingency planning for future COVID-19 variants and broader pandemic preparedness, the government is considering all lessons learned, including how departments worked with industry partners.
HM Treasury
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5
Recommendation
Not Addressed
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
The Department for Health & Social Care’s failure to properly set up the market for...
The Department for Health & Social Care’s failure to properly set up the market for travel tests put the public at risk of fraud and poor quality of service. DHSC required companies looking to conduct tests to be accredited by …
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Government Response
The government did not address the recommendation regarding the CMA recommendations on the testing market.
HM Treasury
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6
Conclusion
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
DHSC failed to adequately protect the taxpayer from fraud in the Managed Quarantine Service (MQS),...
DHSC failed to adequately protect the taxpayer from fraud in the Managed Quarantine Service (MQS), and is not pursuing the fraud that it has identified vigorously enough. There was substantial fraud against the MQS programme. At 1 March 2022, DHSC …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and the UK Health Security Agency has already provided the Committee with a quarterly update on chargeback and hardship recoveries and the next letter will be sent by the end of September with responses to the recommendations.
HM Treasury
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7
Recommendation
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
The Cabinet Office failed to bring together how risks were identified and managed across the...
The Cabinet Office failed to bring together how risks were identified and managed across the portfolio of programmes for implementing health measures at the border. We have repeatedly found that the pandemic has exposed limitations in how government manages risks, …
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Government Response
HM Treasury will work with the Cabinet Office to develop guidance on aggregating and managing risks at a portfolio level, and undertake a review of approaches taken on some other cross-government portfolios. HM Treasury will write to the Committee with an update by January 2023.
HM Treasury
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1
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office, the Home Office, the Department for Transport (DfT), and the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC), about the latest phase …
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Government Response
The government acknowledges the report and provides administrative details about the evidence taken and publication date.
HM Treasury
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8
Conclusion
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
The NAO found that government had limited data on the impact of the exemptions and...
The NAO found that government had limited data on the impact of the exemptions and as a result it did not know how frequently exemptions were used, how many people with exemptions tested positive, or whether the number of exemptions …
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HM Treasury
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9
Conclusion
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
We asked DfT why government granted exemptions for one-off events such as Euro 2020, London...
We asked DfT why government granted exemptions for one-off events such as Euro 2020, London Fashion Week and the COP 26 summit. It said that government had put in place bespoke measures to reduce the risk of transmission at these …
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HM Treasury
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10
Conclusion
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
From February 2021, until all travel measures were withdrawn in March 2022, private sector carriers...
From February 2021, until all travel measures were withdrawn in March 2022, private sector carriers were legally responsible for some additional document checks required as part of the travel measures. Border Force told us that the administration of some measures, …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation to set out how it would support industry partners if health measures were reintroduced and will capture lessons learned through engagement with transport operators. They note the importance of regular engagement, updated guidance, and the intent to use the least stringent measures possible in the future.
HM Treasury
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11
Conclusion
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
We received written evidence from Manchester Airports Group, which told us that, if passenger numbers...
We received written evidence from Manchester Airports Group, which told us that, if passenger numbers remained as they were when testing requirements were in place, it would cost the UK economy £16 billion per year. It also estimated that travellers …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation to set out how it would support industry partners if health measures were reintroduced and will capture lessons learned through engagement with transport operators. They note the importance of regular engagement, updated guidance, and the intent to use the least stringent measures possible in the future.
HM Treasury
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12
Conclusion
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
The NAO found that making changes at short notice in the fast-moving environment of the...
The NAO found that making changes at short notice in the fast-moving environment of the pandemic was inevitable, but the processes for communicating these changes to those responsible for implementing them, in advance of a public announcement, were not timely. …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and explains what it has learned about communicating with the public effectively and what it will do differently in the future, including key lessons learned for future cross-channel campaigns.
HM Treasury
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13
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
We asked the Department about the support it had provided the aviation industry during the...
We asked the Department about the support it had provided the aviation industry during the pandemic. DfT told us that government had provided up to £8 billion of support to the aviation industry during the pandemic, but recognised that this …
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Government Response
The government references its response to the Transport Select Committee, stating that the default approach will be to use the least stringent measures to minimize the impact on travel as far as possible when responding to COVID-19 variants.
HM Treasury
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14
Recommendation
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
In our report Government preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for government on risk management,...
In our report Government preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for government on risk management, we concluded that the pandemic has exposed limitations in how government manages risks, especially those that cut across institutional boundaries. We said government needs to …
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Government Response
HM Treasury will work with the Cabinet Office to develop guidance, consistent with the principles-based approach in the Orange Book, on aggregating and managing risks at a portfolio level. They will also review approaches taken on some other cross-government portfolios to understand where the new guidance could be used and provide an update to the Committee by January 2023.
HM Treasury
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15
Conclusion
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
The NAO found that while government implemented controls through both its committee structures and individual...
The NAO found that while government implemented controls through both its committee structures and individual departmental programmes, it had not set out risks for the overall system of border measures in one place. It found that government had not adopted …
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Government Response
HM Treasury will work with the Cabinet Office to develop guidance on aggregating and managing risks at a portfolio level, and undertake a review of approaches taken on some other cross-government portfolios. HM Treasury will write to the Committee with an update by January 2023.
HM Treasury
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16
Conclusion
Rejected
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
The NAO reported that government had no formal, agreed articulation of how competing objectives for...
The NAO reported that government had no formal, agreed articulation of how competing objectives for implementation of the system as a whole should be balanced and prioritised. We asked how government ensured that the seven separate programmes worked together to …
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Government Response
The government disagrees with the committee's recommendation regarding the balancing and prioritisation of competing objectives, stating that they did take on board many of the CMA's recommendations and detailing actions taken.
HM Treasury
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17
Recommendation
Rejected
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
To preserve NHS testing capacity for domestic health monitoring, DHSC created a private sector market...
To preserve NHS testing capacity for domestic health monitoring, DHSC created a private sector market for PCR tests for people travelling. The number of firms offering PCR tests increased from 11 in December 2020 to at least 400 by September …
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Government Response
The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation, stating that it did take on board many of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) recommendations.
HM Treasury
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18
Conclusion
Rejected
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
DHSC told us that it had tried to ensure that the market could provide valid...
DHSC told us that it had tried to ensure that the market could provide valid and accurate tests, and that without its approach it would not have been able to develop the scale of testing market that it needed. We …
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Government Response
The government disagrees with the Committee's recommendation because it did take on board many of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) recommendations; lists multiple specific actions it took to address the issues raised, and states that if health measures were re-introduced, the UKHSA would continue to learn the lessons from previous iterations of travel testing.
HM Treasury
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19
Recommendation
Rejected
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
The NAO found that the price of PCR tests for prices ranged from £15 to...
The NAO found that the price of PCR tests for prices ranged from £15 to £525. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) reviewed the PCR testing market in August 2021 and found there was a ‘race to the bottom’ where …
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Government Response
The government disagrees with the recommendation, stating that it *did* take on board many of the CMA’s recommendations, and describes the actions taken in response to the CMA report.
HM Treasury
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20
Conclusion
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
The largest part of government’s spending on COVID-19 border measures was on the MQS, which...
The largest part of government’s spending on COVID-19 border measures was on the MQS, which cost the taxpayer £329 million. This is after the recovery of £428 million from guests paying for their accommodation and tests. In total, the service …
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HM Treasury
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21
Recommendation
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
As of 1 March 2022, DHSC was owed £74 million from people who had not...
As of 1 March 2022, DHSC was owed £74 million from people who had not paid for their stay in the MQS or had not paid for their PCR tests. DHSC told us that it had allowed people using the …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation and states that the UK Health Security Agency has already provided the Committee with a quarterly update on chargeback and hardship recoveries, with the next letter to be sent by the end of September including responses to the specific points raised.
HM Treasury
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22
Recommendation
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
By January 2022, DHSC had only investigated two fraud cases and so far had only...
By January 2022, DHSC had only investigated two fraud cases and so far had only recovered £1 million. We asked whether DHSC had published data on amounts recovered and it confirmed it had not, but agreed to provide this information …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and UKHSA has already provided the Committee with a quarterly update on chargeback and hardship recoveries, and the next letter will be sent by the end of September with responses to the recommendations.
HM Treasury
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23
Conclusion
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
DHSC allowed people facing financial hardship to stay in quarantine hotels or buy tests without...
DHSC allowed people facing financial hardship to stay in quarantine hotels or buy tests without paying upfront. At 1 March 2022, DHSC was owed around £54 million from people who have not paid their bill. DHSC allowed people to self-certify …
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Government Response
The UK Health Security Agency has already provided the Committee with a quarterly update on chargeback and hardship recoveries.
HM Treasury
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24
Conclusion
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
We asked about the experience of guests in quarantine hotels and what had been done...
We asked about the experience of guests in quarantine hotels and what had been done to safeguard people staying in the MQS. DHSC told us that it had put a great deal of effort into making sure that hotels were …
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HM Treasury
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25
Conclusion
Accepted
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
The NAO estimated that government spent at least £486 million on cross-border travel measures in...
The NAO estimated that government spent at least £486 million on cross-border travel measures in 2021–22 across the five main departments responsible for the system. Government did not track the cost of implementing cross-border travel measures. The Cabinet Office said …
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Government Response
HM Treasury will consider what additional guidance should be issued to departments on how cross-government portfolios should report and track their overall cost on an ongoing basis, as part of ongoing work looking at improving joint working across government. HM Treasury will write to the Committee with an update by Spring 2023.
HM Treasury
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26
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
In addition to not tracking costs, government did not formally set out what it regarded...
In addition to not tracking costs, government did not formally set out what it regarded as successful implementation of the cross-border travel measures, nor its measurement of success.45 We therefore asked the Cabinet Office how it knew whether measures were …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation and states that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, departments considered the efficacy of policies implemented, and those lessons learned continue to inform contingency planning.
HM Treasury
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27
Conclusion
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
The airport industry commissioned its own research into the costs and benefits of travel restrictions...
The airport industry commissioned its own research into the costs and benefits of travel restrictions which found that, had there been no travel restrictions in place during November and December 2021, the peak in omicron cases would have occurred only …
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HM Treasury
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28
Conclusion
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
The NAO reported that the circumstances in which government had to implement the traffic light...
The NAO reported that the circumstances in which government had to implement the traffic light system had often been a crisis response requiring government to move at pace.49 The Cabinet Office explained that the system was a response to the …
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HM Treasury
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29
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
We found in our report on Government preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for government...
We found in our report on Government preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for government on risk that government would have been better prepared for COVID-19 if it had applied learning from previous incidents and exercises.52 The NAO reported that, …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the committee and states that lessons learned continue to inform contingency planning across government, including for future public health threats. They retained COVID-19 surveillance and set out an overarching contingency strategy based on pharmaceutical interventions.
HM Treasury
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30
Conclusion
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-…
The Cabinet Office explained that decisions about the rules were taken by the COVID-O (Operations)...
The Cabinet Office explained that decisions about the rules were taken by the COVID-O (Operations) ministerial committee who met frequently, with support from committees and working groups of officials.56 The NAO found that supporting groups had 49 C&AG’s Report, para …
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HM Treasury
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Correspondence 2 letters
5 Jul 2022
Correspondence from Dame Meg Hillier, Chair, Committee of Public Accounts to Patricia Hayes, Second Permanent Secretary, Home Office, re Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, 29 June 2022
Parliament page
14 Jun 2022
Correspondence from Gareth Davies CB, Second Permanent Secretary, Department for Transport, re Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, dated 6 June 2022
Parliament page