Dido Harding’s test and trace system has swallowed up “unimaginable” amounts of taxpayers’ money with no evidence of any measurable difference on the progress of the coronavirus pandemic, a scathing report by a Westminster spending watchdog has found.
The report said NHS test and trace must “wean itself off” its reliance on private-sector consultants, after figures showed it was still employing around 2,500 in early February on an estimated daily rate of £1,100 a head – with the most highly paid individual costing taxpayers £6,624 a day.
The watchdog’s findings come as a new study suggests that the virus variant first detected in Kent may be up to twice as deadly as previous strains.
The more transmissible B117…