Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 September 2020 to Question 91680, what plans his Department has to supply private, voluntary and independent early years providers with covid-19 home testing kits.

Although the department does not supply private, voluntary, and independent early years providers with home tests, all essential workers continue to have access to priority testing via the online booking portal. This applies to all education and childcare workers, including those working in early years settings.

Testing capacity is the highest it has ever been. The UK’s daily COVID-19 testing capacity passed the 500,000 mark on Saturday 31 October 2020, and testing capacity continues to expand to help meet demand over the winter period.