Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans for the continuation of the Contain Outbreak Management Fund beyond March 2022; and what his timetable is for making a decision on the future of that fund.

No decision has yet been on made and we continue to have discussions across the Government regarding COVID-19 funding for local authorities.

From 2020 to 2022, over £2.1 billion has been provided to local authorities to support public health efforts through the Contain Outbreak Management Fund (COMF), with £400 million allocated in 2021/22. In December 2021 we confirmed that unspent monies from the COMF can be carried forward into 2022/23. We continue to work with local authorities to ensure that the COMF delivers the objectives of Local Outbreak Management Plans.