Fifty-Third Report - Covid 19: supporting the vulnerable during lockdown
Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee
HC 938
21 April 2021
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fifty-third report from Session 2019-21 · published 2 Sep 2021
Recommendations & Conclusions
5 results
1
Conclusion
Acknowledged
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...
Conclusion
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC), Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), …
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Government Response Summary
The government provides background information on the shielding programme, including the number of people identified, the support provided, and the expenditure, and acknowledges the committee's process of taking evidence for its report.
HM Treasury
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7
Conclusion
Acknowledged
As its understanding of the disease has grown, DHSC has developed a new risk assessment...
Conclusion
As its understanding of the disease has grown, DHSC has developed a new risk assessment tool, QCovid, to identify people at risk based on wider factors which make them at more risk from COVID-19. DHSC described the tool as having …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the conclusion by describing how the QCovid tool improved the identification of clinically extremely vulnerable people through the introduction of non-clinical factors.
HM Treasury
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10
Conclusion
Acknowledged
NHS Digital created the first iteration of the list of some 900,000 people within two...
Conclusion
NHS Digital created the first iteration of the list of some 900,000 people within two days using readily accessible data sources—hospital, maternity and prescribed medicines data. By 12 April 2020, three weeks after shielding began, a further 420,000 people had …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagreed with the conclusion that they took too long to identify vulnerable people, asserting they worked as quickly as possible. However, they committed to learning lessons to improve future use of national data for identifying at-risk groups.
HM Treasury
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18
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Defra was chosen to lead on providing food to people shielding because, according to MHCLG,...
Conclusion
Defra was chosen to lead on providing food to people shielding because, according to MHCLG, it had the expertise and relationships with the food industry.42 Defra consulted with supermarkets and wholesalers, to understand their capacity to provide people with food, …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the committee's observations and clarifies that the central system was not chosen due to a lack of confidence in local authorities. It details ongoing local support, funding, and collaboration with councils for shielding support.
HM Treasury
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19
Conclusion
Acknowledged
In August 2020, the government conducted an early lessons learned review of the programme which...
Conclusion
In August 2020, the government conducted an early lessons learned review of the programme which noted that, should shielding be needed again, a local support model could improve flexibility and potentially be more cost-effective.46 MHCLG told us how it started …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the observation about moving to a locally-led model for shielding support, reinforcing that councils are crucial partners, have received funding, and are confident in providing support. It also confirms continued collaboration and funding review.
HM Treasury
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