Anger as health agency unable to prove billions of pounds spent properly

04 July 2023 , 23:01

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The UK Health Security Agency was responsible for "repeated and unacceptable governance and accounting failures", a report found (Image: Getty Images)

A Government health agency can't prove billions of pounds were properly spent because of "shocking" failures, a scathing report found.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which was launched in 2021 after Public Health England was scrapped, failed to perform even the most basic financial requirements, cross-party MPs ruled. It means that billions of pounds allocated to the Test & Trace programme can no longer be accounted for due to poor financial controls.

The brutal report also found there is "no clear plan" for stockpiling drugs, vaccines and PPE in case of a future pandemic. Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee - which carried out the probe into UKHSA, voiced her disbelief at the failings.

The report into UKHSA's 2021-22 accounts, published today, found "repeated and unacceptable governance and accounting failures" which led to money being spent without Parliament's approval.

Dame Meg Hillier described the findings as "shocking" (PA)

Dame Meg said: “The UK Health Security Agency was set up with great fanfare in 2021, and rightly so given the significance of its role in leading protection against threats to our nation’s health.

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"It is completely staggering, then, that an organisation envisaged as a foundation stone of our collective security was established with a leadership hamstrung by a lack of formal governance, and financial controls so poor that billions of pounds in NHS Test & Trace inventory can no longer be properly accounted for."

Dame Meg said it was "greatly alarming" that no plans are in place for emergency stockpiles. She fumed: "Three years after the start of the pandemic, the Government still has no proper controls over the PPE stocks it already has.

"This could leave front-line workers exposed in the future to shortages similar to those faced in 2020. For the Government not to make serious preparations for any future pandemic would be utterly inexcusable.”

In the past two years, MPs found, £14.9billion of unusable items - including £9.9billion of PPE and £2.6billion of Covid medicines, have been written off. Meanwhile the bill for storing and disposing of PPE is set to hit £319million in coming years, the report said.

MPs said that it could not be established in UKHSA's accounts were "true and fair" - meaning £3.3billion of items transferred from NHS Test & Trace couldn't be verified in financial records.

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper described the situation as a "shambles" (PA)

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Health Secretary Steve Barclay must explain the steps that are being taken.

She said: "This is an utter shambles. It is shocking that the government failed to ensure that even the most basic checks were in place, while billions of taxpayers' money was wasted on unusable PPE.

"Steve Barclay must come to Parliament immediately to explain what action is being taken to fix this mess."

It raised questions about oversight by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and whether those appointed to top jobs were qualified. The committee said: "A lack of governance arrangements, including a Chief Executive appointed with no previous technical experience and UKHSA operating without a budget from DHSC, resulted in inadequate scrutiny and assurance of UKHSA’s operations. These arrangements should also be assessed and rectified as a matter of urgency."

Dame Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said: “We have always taken our accounts and financial controls very seriously.

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"The UKHSA was created in unprecedented circumstances when tackling covid was our first priority, and we inherited significant pre-existing accounts challenges without full governance autonomy. We have already instituted strong governance arrangements in a hugely complex organisation at the earliest opportunity within the controls available to us. This progress means our organisation is now substantially different in terms of stability, governance and financial controls.

“We are working with DHSC to ensure the robustness of our accounts is recognised both now and for the future. Despite these inherited financial challenges, the UKHSA continues to fulfil its priority remit - to protect lives.”

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Dave Burke