4.6 The COVID-19 pandemic has been a health emergency that has demanded a response without precedent, particularly in terms of speed and scale. As a result, HM Treasury has used the spending control framework more flexibly than it otherwise would have done. The basis on which an accounting officer made decisions did not change – at all times they needed to be satisfied that a decision met the standards set out in Managing Public Money – but those decisions had to be made amidst unusually high levels of uncertainty. 4.7 The National Audit Office has already undertaken a number of studies on the value for money of particular COVID-19 expenditure, including test and trace and local government finance, and has plans in place to undertake further studies, including the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine. The government looks forward to the conclusions of those further individual studies on lessons to be learned, and to any overall assessment the NAO may choose to make on the spending undertaken in the pandemic response. 4.8 Meanwhile HM Treasury has been considering carefully the lessons learnt from the pandemic for the spending framework, so that we can face a future crisis better prepared to respond whilst ensuring value for money. The previous Chief Secretary to the Treasury (CST) wrote to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee in April 2021 reviewing the performance of the framework as it was applied to major COVID-19 related spending decisions, and reflecting on how the government can face future crises even better prepared. In addition, the government’s response to the recommendations of the Boardman review into COVID-19 pandemic procurement will consider how government may minimise the value for money risks relevant to future crises.