The £18.5bn-a-year Test and Trace feeding frenzy kept alive by making fully-vaccinated self-isolate: City consultants are on £1,200 a day, every contact traced can cost up to £45 and most staff sit idle for days – but SAGE say it’s FAILED to slow pandemic
- Double-jabbed Brits will have to isolate past Government’s July 19 ‘Freedom Day’
- It has lead to more criticism of NHS Test and Trace – which has so far cost £23bn
- It comes after auditors found 80 per cent of contract tracers were sitting ‘idle’
- And former treasury chief Lord Macpherson criticised it as ‘wasteful and inept’
The decision to make fully-vaccinated people isolate if they come into contact with a a Covid carrier is set to prolong the heavily criticised splurge of taxpayers’ money on the Test and Trace network.
Private consultants are charging more than £1,000-a-day for their work on NHS Test and Trace, with the service having now cost the taxpayer more than £23billion so far – despite scientists saying it has failed to slow the pandemic.
And multinational Deloitte is among those supplying consultants, with its contract worth £298m out of £516m in fees agreed with City companies including Serco, McKinsey and Ernst and Young.
The service has been allocated a £37billion budget for two years – £18.5billion-a-year- – but has already burned through £23billion of that cash according to figures released earlier this month.
A National Audit Office report at the end of June revealed that 2,239 consultants are employed by NHS Test and Trace – 45 per cent of the organisation’s full-time staff – despite the organisations claim to be attempting to reduce their numbers.
The service employed 18,000 contact tracers last October, 13,000 in February and 10,000 in March – but their contracts make them difficult to switch between departments leading to many of them going unused.
Auditors also found that 80 per cent of contact tracers spent their time sitting idle while on shift, and that public compliance with their instructions was ‘low’.
And in February just after the peak o the second wave, every contact traced cost the taxpayer £47, compared to £5 per contact last October because the service struggles to match its staff levels to variable demand.
NHS Test and Trace was headed-up by Lady Dido Harding from its launch in May last year.
The latest NAO figures show Serco has been awarded contracts worth £623m to run contact tracing and test sties, while Deloitte’s £298m was purely for consultancy services’.
She stepped down last month, before applying to become the new head of the NHS – a job which reports suggest she is ‘unlikely’ to get.
Her tenure was criticised by former Treasury chief Lord Macpherson, who accused her of presiding over ‘the most wasteful and inept public spending programme of all time’.
NHS Test and Trace’s yearly budget is worth almost have of the total yearly budget for policing and public safety in the entire UK. And it is almost a third of the defence budget
NHS Test and Trace was headed-up by Lady Dido Harding from its launch in in May 2002. She stepped down last month, before successfully applying to become the new head of the NHS
In the rush to get the service up, NHS Test and Trace seconded staff from management consultancy firms such as Ernst and Young, Deloitte and McKinsey to work on NHS Test and Trace.
At least 73 consultancy firms have been used, including the above mentioned Deloitte, as well as the Boston Consulting Group and PA Consulting.
Reports last year suggested that consultants at one firm, BCG, were receiving more than £6,600-a-day for their work on NHS Test and Trace.
Average daily wages for consultants are thought to be in the region of £1,000.
From TalkTalk to Test and Trace: Dido Harding’s journey to leading UK’s ‘most wasteful public spending programme of all time’
Dido Harding first achieve notoriety in 2010 as chief executive of telecoms group TalkTalk.
Dido Harding
During her time in charge she was twice give MoneyMail’s ‘wooden spoon’ award for having the most appalling customer service of any British company.
It was handed record fines by the regulator Ofcom for over-billing and in 2015 fell victim to a cyber attack in which 157,000 clients had their data stolen, causing 100,000 of them to leave, company profits to halve and TalkTalk’s shares to lose two-thirds of their value,
Harding, 53, who had by then been elevated to the House of Lords as Baroness Harding of Winscombe by old university friend David Cameron — an ally of her Tory MP husband John Penrose — was eased out of her £2.7 million-a-year role in 2017, only to be immediately handed a new job chairing the powerful hospital regulator NHS Improvement.
Then came another big promotion: last May, the Prime Minister put Harding in charge of Test and Trace, promising that this would help free Britain from the shackles of coronavirus.
Despite its huge budget, with the 2,500 consultants on its payroll earning an average of £1,000 a day, Harding’s organisation has ‘failed to make a measurable difference to the progress of the pandemic’, according to a February report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee.
The grandee Lord Macpherson, former head of HM Treasury, has dubbed it ‘the most wasteful and inept public spending programme of all time’.
And this week, a damning National Audit Office report found that Test and Trace is still struggling to get to grips with the basics of its job.
Last month Harding quit Test and Trace, defending the service from criticism by saying the exceptions were ‘set too high’.
She also said Covid testing in the UK was now ‘the envy of the world’.
Last month it was revealed Harding had applied to become the new head of the NHS, after Sir Simon Stevens leaves his role.
But reports suggested that after Matt Hancock’s resignation amid revelations of an affair with an aide, that Harding she was ‘unlikely’ to get the role,
An ally of the prime minister told the Financial Times that Boris Johnson ‘did not want further controversy’ at the Department of Health and Social Care, adding: ‘I can’t see Dido getting the nod, especially after the last couple of days.’
According to a report in the Times today, some consultants were earning ‘city rates’ of thousands of pounds a week – and some as much as £1,200.
The consultants have reportedly been helping with topics including ‘diversity and inclusion’, ‘human-centred’ software, and media strategy.
One former Waitrose boss, Ben Stimson, appointed to the role of chief customer officer at NHS Test and Trace, reportedly signed off on a £1,200-a-day ‘social purpose’ consultant.
The consultant had ‘no medical expertise’, the Times reports.
The criticism comes amid mounting pressure on the Test and Trace service over its cost and efficacy.
The two-year budget for the service was set at £37billion. It has already spent £23billion of that.
In comparison, the Government has sidelined an estimated £40billion on policing and security and £60billion on defence in 2021/22.
One particular area of concern is on the spend of professional services – such as management consultants – which has now spiralled to more than £438million.
According to figures released in February, Test and Trace has used a total of 2,500 consultants since the start of the pandemic.
According to reports in the Financial Times last month, Test and Trace officials say the average day rate for consultants on the programme is £1,100.
Such a salary is equivalent to around £280,000-a-year – which dwarfs even the Prime Minister’s £161,000-a-year pay-cheque.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) last month attempted to justified the scale of investment, in part, on the basis that an effective test and trace system would help avoid a second national lockdown.
But since its creation there have been two more lockdowns.
Meanwhile, a report published by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) accepted that Test and Trace had to be set up at an ‘incredible speed’, it called on the service to ‘wean itself off its persistent reliance on consultants’.
‘It is concerning that the DHSC (Department of Health and Social Care) is still paying such amounts – which it considers to be “very competitive rates” to so many consultants,’ the report said.
In a damning report added that there was ‘still no clear evidence of Test and Trace’s overall effectiveness; and it’s not clear whether its contribution to reducing infection levels – as opposed to the other measures introduced to tackle the pandemic’.
The report was picked up by former Treasury chief Lord Macpherson, who was Permanent Secretary at the Treasury from 2005 to 2016 and worked on 33 Budgets and 20 Spending Reviews.
He tweeted: ‘Th(is) wins the prize for the most wasteful and inept public spending programme of all time.
‘The extraordinary thing is that nobody in the government seems surprised or shocked. No matter: the BoE (Bank of England) will just print more money.’
It comes as a separate, by budget watchdog, the National Audit Office, warned most contact tracers were ‘sitting’ idle.
The report, published last month, found one in nine contact tracers were used in February.
It also found that the service was taking around 74-97 hours between a person testing positive and their contracts being traced.
The target time is significantly less – between 48-72 hours, the report said.
Later this year, Test and Trace will be absorbed into the new UK Health Security Agency but will still enjoy a multi-billion budget – raising fears of a continued overspend.
It comes as Boris Johnson today faced a mounting backlash against a ‘lockdown by stealth’ amid claims that Britons are deleting the NHS app to avoid being ‘pinged’.
Business have voiced alarm that the test and trace system is ‘casting the net wide’ with how many people it orders to stay at home after coming close to a positive case – as anger grows at the six week delay in exempting double-jabbed people from the regime.
In a bruising PMQs clash, Keir Starmer swiped at Boris Johnson: ‘It won’t feel like Freedom Day to those who are having to self-isolate.’
Hospitality chiefs said say they are already seeing staff uninstalling the official app to avoid the threat to their livelihoods, and MPs questioned whether customers will take the chance of going to pubs while the rules are so tight.
In a bruising PMQs clash, Keir Starmer swiped: ‘It won’t feel like Freedom Day to those who are having to self-isolate.’
He went on: ‘There are already too many stories of people deleting the NHS app.
‘And they’re doing it because they can see what’s coming down the track. Now of course we don’t support that, but under his plan it’s entirely predictable.
‘What is the Prime Minister going to do to stop people deleting the NHS app because they can see precisely what he can’t see, which is millions of them are going to be pinged this summer to self-isolate.’
But Mr Johnson retorted that those who self-isolate are doing the ‘right thing’, stressing that the government will be moving away from the system over the ‘next few weeks’. ‘We will continue with a balanced and reasonable approach,’ he said.
Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth said self-isolation should be replaced with daily tests before August 16.
Q&A: Will the delay to scrapping self-isolation rules cause ‘carnage’?
What did Javid say?
From August 16, the double-jabbed and under-18s will no longer have to self-isolate if a close contact tests positive. Adults would be ‘advised’ to get a PCR test as soon as possible, but it will not be mandatory. If you test positive, you will have to self-isolate, jabbed or not.
So what’s the fuss?
It had been hoped the change would come into force on Freedom Day, July 19. It means rules will continue for longer than expected – and well into the holiday season.
What are the rules now?
Close contacts of a confirmed Covid case have to self-isolate for up to ten full days when contacted by NHS Test and Trace. They also have to self-isolate if pinged by the NHS Covid app.
What’s the difference between these two?
There is no legal duty to have the NHS Covid app and no legal duty to self-isolate if pinged – although it is strongly recommended. The Test and Trace system however is legally binding and failure to comply can result in fines starting at £1,000. Officials can check up to see if you are isolating.
Why is this a problem?
Despite the success of the vaccination programme, Covid cases are on the rise again. Yesterday Mr Javid suggested they could hit 100,000 a day. This means hundreds of thousands more people will get pinged by the NHS app or contacted by test and trace. One organisation, the ASI, believes that as many as 3.5million a week could be told to self-isolate.
Will it hit the economy?
It could have a devastating impact, with companies unable to run full services if too many staff are forced to stay at home. The delay could also cause mayhem for hospitality, with pubs forced to shut and theatres forced to cancel plays. There could be chaos for the NHS itself, if large numbers of staff have to self-isolate.
What about holidays?
Families could see everything wrecked at the last minute thanks to one ping from the app or a call from Test and Trace before August 16.
Will insurance cover me?
Most policies do not cover this, so the holidaymaker would have to try to get a refund. It is more likely they would be allowed to rebook or to receive a credit note, rather than getting the cash back.
Why the six-week wait?
Ministers want to make sure most adults have the chance to be double-jabbed. They are also worried about cases rising too sharply. Isolation is a very important weapon in stopping the spread of the virus.
Will ministers rethink?
It is hard to see them reversing their decision to delay the change in policy until August 16. It is possible that the date could be delayed even further – if a new variant of the disease appears.
Tories are raging that Freedom Day on July 19 has ‘in reality’ been pushed back after Sajid Javid announced that fully vaccinated people will not be excused self-isolation until August 16.
Kwasi Kwarteng defended keeping the rules in place for longer this morning, despite fury that it will doom millions of healthy people to house-arrest and wreak havoc on the economy.
The Business Secretary insisted the extension was ‘reasonable’ and a ‘balance’ on the wider unlocking.
But Tory MP David Jones told MailOnline: ‘It is a huge worry. Everyone was given the impression that Freedom Day would be the 19th. But now it is perfectly clear it is being delayed in reality by another five weeks.
‘It is stage five. It just continues forever, stretches into infinity.’
He added: ‘I don’t like to use the word ‘con’, but there is a bit of sleight of hand going on here.’
From the middle of next month people who have received two doses – with the second administered at least two weeks previously – can take PCR tests rather than self-isolating. Under-18s will also not be subject to the restrictions from the same date.
But the timetable means ‘scary’ numbers will be caught in the system after all other restrictions lift on July 19, with furious firms warning they are on the brink of disaster amid ‘massive’ problems of staff absence and customers bailing out out of bookings. Others also raged that the government is failing to provide any clarity on the rules for getting staff back in offices.
Critics claimed it could mean a de facto continuation of restrictions, with pubs forced to keep to the rule of six and table service to avoid all drinkers being ordered to self-isolate when one tests positive. There are also fears that people will start deleting the NHS app to avoid being notified.
Former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith said the announcement ‘makes a mockery’ of the idea that July 19 will mark the end of restrictions.
He told the Telegraph: ‘Why would you even go to a pub [after Step 4]? This makes it worse.
‘I wouldn’t go to a pub that wasn’t still having six around a table and social distancing, otherwise you run the risk of everyone in the pub being pinged and locked down.’
Sir Iain told MailOnline that unlocking without dropping isolation rules was a ‘disaster’ for hospitality and ‘ironically makes it worse not better’.
‘A restaurant can’t say we carried on with the restrictions because it was better for us,’ he said.
‘The government has not thought things through. This becomes a pointless exercise. Because actually if I was running a restaurant I would not want to be unlocked
‘You are telling everyone you are going to unlock. But they have not given anyone a choice to say, well we won’t fully unlock, we will still run it like this as it means we won’t all have to go home.’
Today, on the issue of Test and Trace, a government spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘As part of our urgent response to this global pandemic we have drawn on the extensive expertise of a number of private sector partners who have been invaluable in helping us work faster and more effectively to tackle this virus.
‘Through the new UK Health Security Agency we are consolidating the expertise built up across our health system to ensure we have access to the specific skills needed in the future.
‘NHS Test & Trace has published a workforce strategy outlining plans to scale down the use of consultancy services, and increasing the proportion of civil servants employed. Recruitment spend is in line with Crown Commercial Service procurement frameworks.’
Ignoring NHS Covid app alerts is NOT illegal: Pub owner wants to remind public that refusing to self-isolate after being ‘pinged’ is NOT against the law
By Joe Davies for MailOnline
A pub owner wants to remind the public ignoring NHS Covid app alerts is not illegal, amid fears Test and Trace is causing a ‘lockdown by stealth’ by forcing people to stay at home even when they have been vaccinated and test negative.
App users who are ‘pinged’ after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive are under no legal obligation to stay at home.
They are kept anonymous through the app, meaning authorities are unable to track them down if they have been told to quarantine.
But anyone contacted by NHS Test and Trace workers does have to self-isolate under regulations brought in last autumn to tackle coronavirus. That rule won’t be dropped for fully vaccinated adults until August 16.
Amid fears millions could be told to self-isolate over the next few weeks because of soaring cases, one pub owner was keen to point out notifications on the app carry no legal obligation to quarantine at home.
Writing on Twitter, the co-founder of chain Yummy Pubs Tim Foster, 40, said: ‘Good news.
‘There is no legal requirement to isolate if notified by the app. Only legal requirement is if Test and Trace contact you. Pssst, pass it on.’
The reminder comes amid claims that Brits are deleting the NHS app to avoid being ‘pinged’. It has been downloaded almost 26million times.
Business have voiced alarm the test and trace system is ‘casting the net wide’ with how many people it orders to stay at home after coming close to a positive case — as anger grows at the six week delay in exempting double-jabbed people from the regime.
Hospitality chiefs said say they are already seeing staff uninstalling the official app to avoid the threat to their livelihoods, with many unaware there is no legal obligation to follow its instruction.
MPs questioned whether customers will take the chance of going to pubs while the rules are so tight.
NHS Covid-19 app users who are ‘pinged’ after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive are under no legal obligation to follow suit because they are anonymous
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Self-Isolation) (England) Regulations 2020 order people to self-isolate if contacted by Test and Trace, but not the app [bolded in red]
A Government document published in April, which outlined the effects of the app, said: ‘A key point to note is that an app notification to isolate, based on exposure, is not legally enforceable.’
But it said the instruction becomes legally enforceable as soon as someone who is pinged attempts to apply for isolation support payments.
From the middle of next month people who have received two vaccine doses — with the second administered at least two weeks previously — can take PCR tests rather than self-isolating, and will no longer be ‘pinged’.
Under-18s will also not be subject to the restrictions from the same date.
The NHS Covid-19 app was finally rolled out in September last year, four months later than planned, but people with phones more than five years old reported being unable to download it.
Its software works by using Bluetooth technology to detect when users have come into close contact with someone who tests positive for the virus.
They then receive an alert telling them to self-isolate for up to 10 days and to book a test if they start suffering from Covid symptoms.
But although ‘close contact’ in theory means being within a two-metre radius of someone for at least 15 minutes, some people will receive alerts when they have been further away.
The app struggles to calculate distances so it may record someone as being in close contact even if they have been just over two metres away, and in rare cases up to four metres away.
It is for those living in England and Wales. Northern Ireland and Scotland have their own contact tracing apps, which were launched at earlier dates.
People across England must now self-isolate if they test positive for Covid or are contacted by the Test and Trace service or risk being hit with fines.
Fines start at £1,000 and increasing up to £10,000 for repeat offenders or serious breaches, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
People who have received a positive test must isolate for ten days after displaying symptoms or their test date if they do not have symptoms, while members of their household must isolate for 14 days.
The DHSC also said that police resources will be used to check compliance in the highest incidence areas and in high-risk groups based on ‘local intelligence’.
But people on low incomes who cannot work from home and have lost income as a result are eligible £500 Test and Trace support payment in England.
The payment is available to people who are employed or self-employed and in receipt of Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, Income-based Employment and Support Allowance, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit or Pension Credit.
The DHSC said a number of other measures will be taken to ensure people comply with the rules including Test and Trace call handlers increasing contact with people self-isolating.
High profile and ‘egregious’ cases of non-compliance are investigated and prosecuted while action has been taken on tip-offs from ‘third parties’ about people who have tested positive but are not self-isolating, the DHSC said.
A DHSC spokesman said: ‘Users of the official NHS Covid-19 contact tracing app are anonymous and we cannot force them to self-isolate or identify them if they are not self-isolating.
‘The app will advise a user to self-isolate if they have come into close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus. Users should follow that advice to protect their loved ones and stop the spread of the virus.’
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