Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spent on quarantine hotels by travellers entering the UK following the re-introduction of the covid-19 red list in November 2021; and if he will refund people who paid for quarantine once it became apparent that the omicron variant was transmitting in the community.

Following the re-introduction of the ‘red list’ on 26 November 2021, passengers spent £15.2 million on quarantine services. There are no refunds or financial compensation for guests who completed their quarantine period and had checked out of the quarantine hotel on or before 4am on 15 December. From 4pm on 15 December, guests with a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) result and those who had not yet taken a PCR test were able to depart quarantine following the removal of all countries from the ‘red list’. In England, guests who were released early from managed quarantine are entitled to a refund for the unused part of their managed quarantine.