Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government plans to take to reduce the costs of Day 2 and Day 8 covid-19 tests for people entering the UK.

The government continues to work with the travel industry and private testing providers to further reduce testing costs, while ensuring travel is as safe as possible. The cost of PCR tests has fallen since the introduction of post-arrival lateral flow testing for eligible vaccinated passengers. Testing requirements for unvaccinated passengers are also regularly reviewed.

Testing costs are minimal for fully vaccinated passengers and under 18s. Eligible fully vaccinated passengers and under 18s arriving into the UK now just need to take a lateral flow test post arrival, with a free confirmatory PCR test if they receive a positive result. The rule changes make testing on arrival simpler and cheaper for people across the country.