Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Kamall on 12 October (HL2767), in which format the data relating to the number of COVID-19 PCR tests for travel is held; and what plans they have, if any, to publish this data.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Data on the number of COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for travel was previously held for arrivals from ‘red’ and ‘amber’ list countries.
Data on testing for international arrivals from red list and non-red list countries, including confirmatory PCR tests, from 30 September 2021 is published weekly in an online only format at GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many suppliers of COVID-19 PCR tests for travel are listed on gov.uk.
Answered by Lord Kamall
As of 9 December, there are 555 providers listed.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Kamall on 12 October (HL2766), how many suppliers they list as providing PCR tests for travel on the Gov.uk website; what information they require from suppliers who appear on that list; what checks they undertake of firms on that list; and what is the (1) lowest, (2) highest, (3) mean, and (4) median, cost of such tests advertised by suppliers on that list.
Answered by Lord Kamall
As of 15 October 2021, there are currently 555 providers of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for travel listed on GOV.UK.
Suppliers are required to complete a self-declaration against the Government’s minimum standards, which the United Kingdom Accreditation Service will review to met. Providers of COVID-19 testing services are required to apply for accreditation to provide sample collection and/or sample testing services The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Testing Requirements and Standards) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 set out the deadlines for obtaining accreditation. Providers may not market these tests if these deadlines are not met.
The Department monitors issues raised by the public, data submitted by the provider and reports from regulatory and oversight bodies. Where the Department identifies that a supplier is not providing the high-quality service expected, we can ask for remedial action. Where minimum standards have not been met or public safety is at risk, we will ask for improvements to be made and the provider could be removed from the GOV.UK listing.
The lowest cost of such tests is £1.25 and the highest is £1080.00. While the median cost is not collected centrally, the mean cost is £45.00
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the direct cost of an at-home PCR test conducted by NHS Test and Trace.
Answered by Lord Kamall
We are unable to provide the direct cost of NHS Test and Trace polymerase chain reaction tests as this information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the total number of PCR tests conducted for the purposes of facilitating international travel in each month of 2021; and of these, how many were conducted by NHS Test and Trace.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Data on the number of polymerase chain reaction tests for international travel is not held in the format requested.