Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that staff in residential care homes for autistic people and people with learning disabilities are regularly tested for covid-19 even when those people are not displaying symptoms.

Regular testing is available for all Care Quality Commission-registered care homes. Regular retesting for residents and staff of care homes for over 65 year olds and those with dementia was rolled out from 6 July. This included weekly testing for staff and every 28 days for residents. All remaining adult care homes, including residential care homes for autistic people and people with learning disabilities, were able to apply for retesting from 31 August.