UK Inquiry Tracker

Local authority administered COVID grant schemes

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 29 Mar 2023 Closed: 18 Nov 2023 Parliament page

COVID-19 pandemic restrictions varied over time and between different parts of the country, but all had an impact on businesses, many of which were forced to temporarily close or curtail their operations. The government announced in early March 2020 that it would provide grants, administered by local authorities, to support … Read more COVID-19 pandemic restrictions varied over time and between different parts of the country, but all had an impact on businesses, many of which were forced to temporarily close or curtail their operations. The government announced in early March 2020 that it would provide grants, administered by local authorities, to support smaller businesses in England. The National Audit Office has said in its report that government achieved its primary objective to deliver financial support to businesses quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic . BEIS prioritised speed over conducting pre-payment checks for the schemes launched at the start of the pandemic, but did not then act quickly to conduct follow-up checks. As the PAC has also reported, the delays in following-up have made the recovery of amounts wrongly paid more difficult to achieve. Department for Business and Trade (DBT), which is now responsible for these schemes, has still to report on the impact of these grants: for example in terms of maintaining jobs and how much support might have been given to businesses that did not need it. Without such an assessment an overall judgement about the value for money of the schemes remains open. Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the PAC, commenting on the NAO’s findings, said: “Government moved at speed to provide grants to businesses to support the high street during the pandemic. “However in doing so, an estimated £1.1bn was lost to fraud and error, and to date only 1% of this has been recovered. “It is now up to the Department for Business and Trade and the rest of government to act on the lessons from this experience it has learnt so it can be on the front foot for the next crisis.” The Committee will question senior officials at the Department for Business and Trade and HM Treasury including on how effectively the government set up and delivered the grant schemes. If you have relevant evidence to inform this questioning, please submit it here by 23:59 on Wednesday 26 April. Please have a look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note the Committee cannot accept as evidence material that has been published elsewhere. Show less

2 Recommendations

25 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

2 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 6 events

18 Nov
2023

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Sixty-eighth report from Session 2022-23

6 Sep
2023

Report published

Sixty-Eighth Report - Local authority administered COVID support schemes in England

12 Jun
2023

Correspondence

Correspondence from Gareth Davies, Permanent Secretary, Department for Business and Trade, re local authority administered Covid grant sche…

24 May
2023

Correspondence

Correspondence from Philip Duffy, Director General, Growth and Productivity, HM Treasury, re Local authority administered COVID grant schem…

11 May
2023

Oral evidence

Local authority administered COVID grant schemes

11 May
2023

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Local authority administered COVID grant schemes

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

11 May 2023

View on parliament.uk

Local authority administered COVID grant schemes

Anastasia Osbourne · Department for Business and Trade David Bickerton · Department for Business and Trade Gareth Davies CB · Department for Business and Trade Phil Duffy · HM Treasury

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Sixty-Eighth Report - Local authority administered COVID support…	HC 1234	6 Sep 2023	27	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 results

1 Conclusion Rejected

Sixty-Eighth Report - Local author…

Committee takes evidence on local authority-administered COVID-19 business grants.

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Business and Trade (the Department) and HM Treasury about local authority-administered COVID-19 grants for businesses in England.2

Government Response

The government explicitly disagrees with the committee's recommendation, stating that a single precise definition for basic control in national emergencies is not appropriate given the varied nature of such events.

HM Treasury

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7 Conclusion Rejected

Sixty-Eighth Report - Local author…

Absence of basic controls and awareness of pre-payment checks in early grant schemes.

We pressed witnesses about the absence of basic controls in the early schemes, and the level of consideration that had been given to how quickly these controls could have been put in place.9 DBT told us that the level of … Read more

Government Response

The government rejects the committee's implied recommendation for a single definition of basic controls in emergencies, arguing that HMT adapts controls proportionately and that existing spending frameworks provide sufficient flexibility while retaining accounting officers' responsibilities.

HM Treasury

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19 Conclusion Rejected

Sixty-Eighth Report - Local author…

Untargeted early grant schemes overwhelmed departmental capacity and posed fiscal challenges.

The first wave of grant schemes in spring 2020 were largely untargeted. They account for around half of the £22.6 billion eventually provided to businesses under these schemes over the pandemic.38 HM Treasury told us the amount paid out in … Read more

Government Response

The government rejects the committee's implied recommendation, stating that a single precise definition for the basic level of control in national emergencies is inappropriate due to varying circumstances. It affirms that established spending frameworks apply, with Accounting Officers responsible for expenditure, but flexibility is necessary to tailor responses to specific emergencies.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 27 of 2 classified

Accepted 18

Accepted in Part 1

Acknowledged 3

Deferred 1

Not Addressed 1

Rejected 3

Total 2 recs + 25 conclusions

Correspondence 2 letters

12 Jun 2023 Correspondence from Gareth Davies, Permanent Secretary, Department for Business and Trade, re local authority administered Covid grant schemes, dated 25 May 2023

Parliament page

24 May 2023 Correspondence from Philip Duffy, Director General, Growth and Productivity, HM Treasury, re Local authority administered COVID grant schemes, dated 17 May 2023

Parliament page