The Chair of the Senedd’s Public Accounts Committee has responded to the findings of an Auditor General’s report published today, Thursday 18 March 2021, which reveals that the Test, Trace, Protect programme is making an important contribution to the management of COVID-19 in Wales.
The Committee heard that the programme struggled to cope with earlier peaks in virus transmission however it has demonstrated an ability to rapidly learn and evolve in response to the challenges it has faced.
The programme has learnt lessons from the management of early outbreaks and has tried to effectively marry Wales-specific and UK-wide arrangements. The Committee heard that this has been a challenge, with officials describing it as trying to “design, build and fly an aircraft all at the same time”.
Following today’s report ‘Test, Trace, Protect in Wales: An Overview of Progress to Date’ from the Auditor General for Wales, Nick Ramsay MS, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee said:
“The Auditor General’s findings give a valuable insight into how the Test Trace and Protect programme in Wales has performed to date. Creating the programme largely from scratch and at real pace has been a significant achievement, and shows what can be achieved when public sector bodies work together, united by a common purpose.
“There have clearly been challenges for the programme during the peaks in transmission of COVID-19 but it is important that it continues to learn the lessons from such challenges given the crucial role it has to play in keeping the virus in check as lockdown restrictions are eased”.
