Cash To Isolate 'would Have Cut Covid Deaths'

If nan UK had spent much money helping group to self-isolate during nan pandemic past less group would person been infected aliases died, nan erstwhile caput of NHS Test and Trace has said.

Baroness Dido Harding, who was successful complaint of nan programme successful England, told nan Covid enquiry she many times based on to summation financial support, but was "frustrated" by nan consequence of past chancellor, Rishi Sunak.

"There was an intransigence that I deliberation was very sad," she said successful her evidence.

On 28 September 2020, nan authorities did bring successful a £500 self-isolation costs for debased income workers connected authorities benefits who were told to enactment astatine location aft being successful interaction pinch an infected person.

A parallel strategy of discretionary payments was group up by immoderate section authorities to support those extracurricular nan use system.

In her evidence, Baroness Harding said nan UK spent proportionally "much little than different developed countries enabling disadvantaged group to self-isolate".

"If we had allocated much of nan NHS Test and Trace fund to isolation support, I powerfully fishy that less would person died and infection rates would person been little pinch each nan benefits that would person brought," she said successful her witnesser statement.

"It's surely nan point that I wished I had succeeded successful persuading ministers to do," she added successful nan hearing.

"But I wasn't nan determination maker. The determination shaper successful this was nan chancellor and astatine each opportunity, from June [2020] onwards, nan chancellor rejected nan proposals."

Last week, nan enquiry was shown private diary entries written by nan government's past main technological adviser, Lord Patrick Vallance.

He wrote astatine nan clip that it was nan "instinct" of argumentation makers to usage nan "stick" of enforcement and fines to person group to self-isolate, alternatively than nan "carrot" of financial support favoured by nan government's subject advisers.

After 1 meeting, connected 27 July 2020, he wrote: "Dido [Harding] pushed to get financial support for group to get tested successful debased socio-economic groups.

"Rishi [Sunak] reacted powerfully to that and said basically: 'Just extremity nan societal interactions.'"

Baroness Harding, a erstwhile unit and telecoms executive who was appointed to lead nan trial and trace strategy successful May 2020, said information successful nan first twelvemonth of nan pandemic suggested individuals were not being tested because they were "scared of nan consequences of isolation".

"To beryllium honest, it was intensely frustrating," she told nan inquiry, adding that she recovered reference messages from nan clip "quite distressing".

"We did effort really difficult to seduce ministers that [increased financial support] would beryllium a bully thing, not conscionable for nan individual wellbeing of those disadvantaged people, but besides economically, arsenic this was 1 of nan ways you could person little economical harm for nan state arsenic a whole," she added.

She said she felt chancellor Rishi Sunak had rejected her arguments arsenic a "point of principle" because he did not want to create what could beryllium seen arsenic a caller use benefit.

"I don't deliberation location was immoderate magnitude of information and study that I could person put that would person changed his mind," she said.

"I deliberation you tin perceive my vexation arsenic I opportunity it."

Rishi Sunak has not been called to springiness grounds to this three-week conception of nan Covid inquiry, which is looking astatine testing, interaction tracing and isolation policies.

But, past week, Dan York-Smith, a elder civilian servant successful nan Treasury, said a number of economical measures were brought successful to support workers, including extensions to statutory sick salary and nan furlough scheme.

He said nan chancellor was peculiarly worried astir creating "perverse intensives" which mightiness person accrued nan risks of fraud, aliases meant immoderate workers could beryllium paid much to self-isolate than successful wages.