30
Accepted
The Cabinet Office explained that decisions about the rules were taken by the COVID-O (Operations)...
Recommendation
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 1.5 50 Qq 61, 70–71 51 Qq 101–103; C&AG’s report, para 2.30 52 Committee of Public Accounts, Government preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for government on risk, Forty-Sixth Report of Session 2021–22, HC 952, 23 March 2022, summary, para 5 53 C&AG’s Report, para 22 54 Qq 77, 149, 153, 149 55 Qq 150, 152 56 Qq 78–83 20 Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic no formal decision-making role nor minutes. We asked witnesses how they would ensure that their lessons learned will be readable, available and accessible to future generations given that technology may have moved on when the next pandemic occurs. The Cabinet Office told us that it was collecting 200,000 documents for the upcoming public inquiry. We emphasised the importance of documents providing an honest assessment of what went right and wrong so government can improve its responses in future crises.57 57 Qq 85–86, 110, 133, 151; C&AG’s Report, para 1.9 Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic 21
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to develop guidance on aggregating and managing risks at a portfolio level and to review existing approaches, committing to provide an update to the Committee by January 2023.
Government Response
Accepted
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
7.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: January 2023 7.2 The Risk Profession in 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, and undertake a review of approaches taken on some other cross-government portfolios to understand the types of portfolios where there could be opportunities to use the new guidance. HM Treasury will write to the Committee with an update by the target implementation date.
Source
Committee
Public Accounts Committee
Report
Sixteenth Report - Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic
26 Jul 2022
HC 29
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age
4.0 yrs
Report published
26 Jul 2022