For decades, taxpayers will face the cost of Covid, and the speed of investigations is not fast enough to learn from the pandemic. Congressman I’ve said it.
Two reports from House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) The news released on Sunday slammed the government’s spending on unusable personal protective equipment (PPE), and said that the public investigation expected next year is not enough to solve some problems.
PAC stated that taxpayers will face “significant financial risks in the coming decades” and has already estimated government The measures have reached 372 billion pounds.
Although the committee also “still worried that despite spending more than £10 billion on supplies, Personal Protective Equipment Inventory is not suitable for use”.
PAC stated that as of May this year, of the 32 billion PPE ordered by the Ministry of Health and Social Care, about 11 billion have been distributed, and 12.6 billion are stored in the UK as a central inventory.
Approximately 8.4 billion orders from other parts of the world have not yet arrived in the UK.
But members of Congress worry that the inventory will cost about 6.7 million pounds a week to store, and the potential waste level is “unacceptably high.”
The continuing risks faced by taxpayers will continue for 20 years in areas such as arts and cultural restoration loans, not to mention other new risks that government departments must quickly learn to manage.
According to the report, as of May this year, there are still 10,000 PPE shipping containers to be unpacked, but 2.1 billion PPE has been found to be unsuitable for use in a medical environment.
The committee stated that this cost more than £2 billion in taxpayer funds, more than five times the estimated value of unsuitable personal protective equipment provided by DHSC to members of parliament in January 2021.
Regarding redundant PPE suitable for medical purposes, lawmakers are concerned that the government has not yet developed any strong plans to reuse and distribute these necessities in a way that ensures value for money and protects staff and patients.
Noblewoman Meg Hillier The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee said: “So far, the government has spent a lot of money on new coronavirus measures. The government now needs to clarify how it will be managed in the future and how long it will be managed.
“The ongoing risks faced by taxpayers will continue for 20 years in areas such as arts and cultural restoration loans, not to mention other new risks that government departments must quickly learn to manage.”
A promised public investigation into the pandemic is not expected to begin until next spring, and it may continue for a long time, and the PAC report stated that “it is clear that the government cannot wait for a review to learn important lessons”, but must Submit the Covid recovery plan in the fall spending review.
Mrs. Meg said: “If the coronavirus persists for a long time, the financial sequelae may cause headaches for future generations.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Care responded: “There are sound processes in place to ensure that government expenditures always provide taxpayers with value-for-money services.
“We have worked tirelessly to purchase life-saving PPE to protect healthcare workers, and we have transported more than 12.7 billion items to the frontline at a record speed.”
But Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the Labor Party, said that the cross-party report is more proof of the Conservative Party’s failure during the pandemic. She said “causing the avoidable deaths of tens of thousands of people, and seeing A lot of taxpayers’ money was wasted on unsafe personal protective equipment and contracts issued to their partners.”
She added: “We cannot wait until next year to start a public investigation, and ministers cannot hide their failure by refusing to hand over the information hidden in their personal email accounts.”
“The public investigation must begin immediately, and the investigation must have full access to all ministerial communications, contracts and documents, including all government affairs conducted through personal email accounts.”
