Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the £60,000 death-in-service lump sum payment in respect of covid-19 applies to nurses and care workers working in social care settings where (a) all, (b) some or (c) none of the cost of the care is funded by local authorities.

The Government has announced a life assurance scheme for frontline National Health Service and social care staff. The scheme is non-contributory and pays a £60,000 lump sum where staff who had been recently working where personal care is provided to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 die as a result of the virus.

Nurses and care workers working in social care are eligible, providing that their work requires them to be present in frontline settings where COVID-19 is present, and that they are employed by an organisation registered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide social care services; regardless of how they are funded.

In addition, any members of the social care workforce in non-CQC registered settings are also eligible, if their employer receives public funding.