Thirty-Eighth Report - COVID-19 cost tracker update

Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee HC 640 23 February 2022
Report Status Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations 19 items (11 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 18 of 19 classified)
Accepted 8
Accepted in Part 2
Acknowledged 5
Not Addressed 3
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty Eighth report from Session 2021-22 · published 28 Apr 2022
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Recommendations & Conclusions

5 results
6 Conclusion Acknowledged
We noted that the public inquiry into government’s handling of COVID-19 was due to start...
Conclusion
We noted that the public inquiry into government’s handling of COVID-19 was due to start in the spring or summer of 2022, and that understanding how money was being spent was likely to be an important part of this inquiry. … Read more
Government Response Summary
Acknowledges that the COVID-19 cost tracker has increased transparency and that the Treasury has committed to continue to conduct a routine review of these costs and to provide public updates.
HM Treasury
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7 Conclusion Acknowledged
HM Treasury told us that, during the pandemic, it had made some very significant sums...
Conclusion
HM Treasury told us that, during the pandemic, it had made some very significant sums of money available at short notice in conditions of great uncertainty. This funding was ring-fenced so that, if it was not needed for the intended … Read more
Government Response Summary
Acknowledges that the COVID-19 cost tracker has increased transparency and that the Treasury has committed to continue to conduct a routine review of these costs and to provide public updates.
HM Treasury
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8 Conclusion Acknowledged
HM Treasury told us that one element of the cost tracker it would definitely continue...
Conclusion
HM Treasury told us that one element of the cost tracker it would definitely continue to monitor and report on was the cost of the various loan and grant schemes where the true cost will only be known over time.18 … Read more
Government Response Summary
Acknowledges that the COVID-19 cost tracker has increased transparency and that the Treasury has committed to continue to conduct a routine review of these costs and to provide public updates.
HM Treasury
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16 Recommendation Acknowledged
We therefore asked HM Treasury what it was doing to identify and address some of...
Recommendation
We therefore asked HM Treasury what it was doing to identify and address some of the issues raised by our and the NAO’s work examining the response to the pandemic, for example around the trade-offs between acting at speed and … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, referring to a March 2021 letter outlining general lessons and actions, but it does not detail a specific new process for identifying and addressing the trade-offs between speed and value for money as raised by the Committee.
HM Treasury
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19 Recommendation Acknowledged
We asked HM Treasury what it was doing to ensure that, if emergency support such...
Recommendation
We asked HM Treasury what it was doing to ensure that, if emergency support such as business support schemes or loans were needed in future, those responsible would have the information they needed to act quickly, informed by lessons from … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented by referring to a March 2021 letter that generally outlines lessons learned, but does not specifically detail how lessons are recorded to ensure long-term usefulness independent of staff changes, as requested.
HM Treasury
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