Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS National Screening Committee received any application for approval for the use of lateral flow tests for covid-19 from (a) the Government and (b) any other body; and for what reason the response to Question 124655 tabled on 3 December 2020 on that matter was not provided until 23 February 2021.

The Department is not aware of any such applications made by the Government to the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).

As an independent expert scientific committee, the UK NSC may have received applications for screening assessments from third parties

We are working rapidly to provide all hon. Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.