Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will put in place contractual arrangements to disapply accommodation fees and pay compensation to residents who have witnessed a rat in their room in a quarantine hotel in connection with covid-19 travel restrictions.

A single complaint was reported in one managed quarantine facility. Following this incident, a full risk assessment was carried out by the hotel, including introduction of improved vermin controls and subsequently an environmental health officer upon inspection gave the facility a five-star rating, which is the highest rating that can be achieved. There has been no indication of vermin or further sightings reported by staff or guests in other managed quarantine hotels.

We work closely with the hospitality sector providing quarantine accommodation and continue to monitor the operation of the managed quarantine service to ensure it remains appropriate Our facilities team work directly with local environmental health teams to ensure that the accommodation offered meets the appropriate hygiene and cleanliness standards and is safe for all guests. In this specific instance, the guest and other occupants were not removed from the facility to prevent the risk to public health and potential transmission to other locations.

To ensure all our managed quarantine hotels are safe environments, we have standard operating procedures (SOPs), testing and infection prevention control processes for staff and guests. Each hotel has dedicated Departmental on-site liaison officers who monitor compliance with SOPs and report back compliance issues, breaches, opportunities to improve services and other matters including health and safety breaches.

Within the Managed Quarantine Service (MQS), we have introduced an assessed refund policy. All complaints are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Where appropriate we give guests full or partial refunds where it is evidentially proven that the service we offer has not met MQS facility standards.