Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of (a) the effect of the pilot events under the Events Research Programme on the transmission of covid-19 and (b) the effectiveness and take up of the testing regime required for event attendance.

The Events Research Programme is examining risk of transmission of Covid-19 from attendance at events, and exploring ways to enable people to attend a range of events safely.

Our Science Board agreed that admission of participants to our pilot events in April and May was subject to evidence of a negative Lateral Flow Device test result for Covid-19. The ERP will publish its research findings shortly, including independent scientific reports. This research will cover the testing protocol for the pilot events. These reports will feed into decision making on removing restrictions safely ahead of step 4.