(Updates throughout)
LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Management consultants working on
England's COVID-19 test and trace scheme have not profiteered
while working to fight the pandemic, a government official said
on Monday, adding on average they were paid around 1,000 pounds
($1,360) a day.
The cost and effectiveness of work by consultants such as
Deloitte on England's test and trace scheme has come under
scrutiny, with some opposition politicians calling for the
state-run health service to lead the operation.
Citing documents it had seen, Britain's Sky News reported
last year that some consultants working on test and trace were
earning around 7,000 pounds a day.
"The average cost across our consultancy support, I imagine
is about the same for Deloitte, is around 1,000 pounds a day,"
David Williams, second permanent secretary at the Department of
Health, told lawmakers in the Public Accounts Committee.
Asked if he was confident that there were no "super-profits"
being made out of test and trace, Williams said he was "as
confident as I can be".
"In terms of profiteering, as it were ... I see no evidence
that causes me concern on that," he said.
He said there were currently around 900 consultants from
Deloitte working on the operation, down from around 1,000, with
the number set to fall further.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised a "world-beating" test
and trace system to help quell the coronavirus, but the
government's spending watchdog has said it is failing to meet
objectives, delivering results too slowly and finding too few
contacts.
The test and trace operation will cost 23 billion pounds
this financial year, the committee said in a tweet.
The system has improved its numbers in recent weeks, helped
in part by a change in how it reaches contacts in the same
household.
The head of the scheme, Dido Harding, said it was one of a
number of improvements that had seen the system reach more than
80% of positive cases and more than 90% of their contacts.
Asked about an assessment by government science advisers
last year that the system had only a marginal impact on reducing
transmission, she said it was now hitting its targets.
"Actually, as measured, we are having a material impact in
the fight against COVID," she told the lawmakers.
Nearly 90,000 people have died in Britain from COVID-19.
($1 = 0.7365 pounds)
(Editing by Alison Williams)