Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of shortfall in funding to local councils to meet demand for discretionary self isolation payments in areas where covid-19 rates are categorised as very high.

The Government keeps all elements of its COVID-19 response under review, including the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme. An initial £50 million was made available to local authorities following the launch of the scheme in September 2020, including £15 million for discretionary payments. In January 2021, in response to rising incidence levels, the Government made a further £20 million available, including another £10 million to cover the cost of discretionary payments. We will continue to work closely with all 314 local authorities in England to monitor the delivery of the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme.