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Not reported in the headlines: Sunak’s budget yesterday announced spending *£10 billion* on the track and trace system.
Let that sink in for a second…
https://hmtreasury-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/summer-economic-update-a-plan-for-jobs 1/n
Let that sink in for a second…
https://hmtreasury-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/summer-economic-update-a-plan-for-jobs 1/n
£10 billion on track and trace is staggering. It’s the equivalent of 7.5% of the NHS annual budget. That’s 7.5% of a whole year’s healthcare for the while country. And this doesn’t even cover testing for the virus, only the contacting and advice bit. 2/n
I remember feeling angry at the £11.8 million spent on the failed test and trace *app*. It felt like a stupid sum of money for a failed software design attempt… https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1300044/Matt-Hancock-coronavirus-NHS-track-trace-app-cost-waste-taxpayer-money-apple-google 3/n
But to go back to the £10bil: latest government figures state that 132,525 contacts have been reached by this system so far. Assuming this figure is correct (dubious over-estimate?), that’s £75,000 per phone call! 4/n
This is more than just incompetence. The government may have failed to act decisively in many aspects of this crisis (e.g. lockdown). But it seems all-too-happy to commit huge sums to private companies with poor track records of delivering. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/06/serco-wins-covid-19-test-and-trace-contract-despite-1m-fine 5/n
And COVID-19 emergency laws mean these contracts no longer have to go to tender in the usual way. This amounts to a transfer of wealth from the public to big business with no guarantee of public health benefit… https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/15/firms-given-1bn-of-state-contracts-without-tender-in-covid-19-crisis 6/n
They have the cheek to call it ‘NHS test and trace’. It uses no existing NHS or public health infrastructure and invests nothing in community health systems. What a wasted opportunity 7/n
