Forty-Sixth Report Government preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for government on risk

Select Committee

Public Accounts Committee HC 952 23 March 2022

Report Status Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations 22 items (7 recs)

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Government Response (AI assessment · 21 of 22 classified)

Accepted 13

Acknowledged 7

Not Addressed 1

Government response

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty Sixth report from Session 2021-22 · published 27 May 2022

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Recommendations & Conclusions

7 results

10 Conclusion Acknowledged

It was reported in September 2021 that the Health and Safety Executive had been notified...

Conclusion

It was reported in September 2021 that the Health and Safety Executive had been notified of 103 instances of serious laboratory leaks, including nine in the most secure level-4 laboratories.15 Lack of transparency to the public about these leaks has … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government will address laboratory safety and security as part of the forthcoming Biological Security Strategy.

HM Treasury

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11 Recommendation Acknowledged

We raised the question of whether individual members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies...

Recommendation

We raised the question of whether individual members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) should be allowed to make public statements that are inconsistent with the collective messaging of the Group. When asked if refraining from making such … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government will consider whether to include guidance on external communications in the terms of reference for expert advisory groups.

HM Treasury

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12 Conclusion Acknowledged

The Cabinet Office acknowledged the need for international co-operation to assess threats, manage risks and...

Conclusion

The Cabinet Office acknowledged the need for international co-operation to assess threats, manage risks and share information. As examples of the UK’s engagement, they mentioned work carried out with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in response to Ebola; the Carbis … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government is working to build on the UK’s existing international collaborations, plays an active role in multilateral fora, and continues to promote rapid intelligence sharing.

HM Treasury

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14 Conclusion Acknowledged

Alongside greater international cooperation, the Cabinet Office noted the need to strengthen domestic collaboration on...

Conclusion

Alongside greater international cooperation, the Cabinet Office noted the need to strengthen domestic collaboration on risks, especially with the private sector. The Cabinet Office stated that government is considering requiring regulated companies and those that have significant dealings with government … Read more

Government Response Summary

Government will consider strengthening domestic collaboration on risks in the development of the Resilience Strategy.

HM Treasury

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15 Conclusion Acknowledged

Government lacked detailed plans for several aspects of the response to COVID-19, including financial support...

Conclusion

Government lacked detailed plans for several aspects of the response to COVID-19, including financial support to local authorities, identifying a large population advised to shield, and economic support schemes.23 A submission we received from an academic research group studying the … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government recognizes that it lacked detailed plans for several aspects of the response to COVID-19 and will draw on the lessons learned to strengthen future planning, including considering how to ensure that government can reinstate economic support schemes at short notice without implementation issues.

HM Treasury

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16 Conclusion Acknowledged

The Cabinet Office attributed the absence of detailed planning for a pandemic like COVID-19 to...

Conclusion

The Cabinet Office attributed the absence of detailed planning for a pandemic like COVID-19 to the fact that they did not anticipate a disease with asymptomatic transmission which required an extended lockdown.26 Yet, a large-scale infection with widespread asymptomatic transmission … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government recognizes that it did not anticipate a disease with asymptomatic transmission which required an extended lockdown and will draw on lessons learned to strengthen future planning.

HM Treasury

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18 Conclusion Acknowledged

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the potential large-scale economic impact of a public health emergency...

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the potential large-scale economic impact of a public health emergency requiring lockdowns and self-isolation. Yet, a submission that we received from academics working on lessons from loans to support businesses through Coronavirus noted that it … Read more The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the potential large-scale economic impact of a public health emergency requiring lockdowns and self-isolation. Yet, a submission that we received from academics working on lessons from loans to support businesses through Coronavirus noted that it is unclear whether government would be able to reinstate the scheme at short notice without the implementation issues experienced when it was first introduced.30 In January 2022, the NHS obtained a ministerial direction to enter into a contract for spare surge capacity with private sector health providers which, based on information available at the time of our session, will cost at least £75 million a month. During the session we noted that, had government embedded learning about planning from the early COVID-19 response, that contract might have been cheaper and might have 23 C&AG’s Report, paras 3.12 & 3.19–3.20 24 Dr Kate Hardy, Dr Xanthe Whittaker, Dr Nathan Archer, Dr Helen Norman, Dr Jennifer Tomlinson and Dr Katie Cruz (Ev TRE0007) 25 Statement by Neil Couling at the webinar The safety net in action? Universal Credit’s role in the crisis and the recovery, 27 May 2020, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0QTmqX0kkM, from 22’53’’ to 23’18’’ 26 Q 43 27 Qq 38–42 28 C&AG’s Report, para. 3.20 29 Q 40 30 Dr Christoph Görtz, Prof. Danny McGowan and Dr Mallory Yeromonahos (Ev TRE0001) 14 Government preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for government on risk not required a ministerial direction.31 We queried what percentage of NHS consultants also work for private sector health providers. The Department told us in written evidence that, based on a commercial report, about 20% of UK specialists work in private practice, and 2% work exclusively in private practice. Reports from private providers suggest that many consultants devote a small proportion of their total working time to private work and contractual provisions include that their work must not diminish the public res Show less

Government Response Summary

The government recognises the potential large-scale economic impact of a public health emergency requiring lockdowns and self-isolation and will draw on the lessons learned from the pandemic response to strengthen future planning.

HM Treasury

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