Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) blood samples, and (2) urine samples have been collected by UK Anti-Doping in the UK each month since March, in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Northern Ireland, and (d) Wales.
UK Anti-Doping defines a test as any attempt to test a single athlete in a single Sample Collection Session. During the periods:
January to March 2019, it conducted 3,803 tests
April to June 2019, it conducted 2,212 tests
July to September 2019, it conducted 2,943 tests
October to December 2019, it conducted 2,789 tests
January to March 2020, it conducted 2,512 tests
April to June 2020, it conducted 126 tests. The drop in testing during this period was due to UK Anti-Doping’s decision in March 2020 to significantly reduce its testing programme due to Covid-19.
July to September 2020. The testing statistics for this period have not yet been released.
All testing in the first quarter of 2020-2021 (April-June 2020) conducted in the UK was done in England. However, this does not mean that athletes from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales were not tested during this time. UK Anti-Doping publishes its testing figures on a quarterly basis and combines the figures for blood and urine samples. This ensures transparency of its testing activity, while protecting the confidential methodology which goes into planning a testing programme.