Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason private, voluntary and independent early years providers are not eligible for the roll-out of covid-19 home testing kits.

The Department considers that prioritising staff in private, voluntary and independent early years providers in the community testing regime is the most effective way of providing them with testing.

Community testing programmes are currently being rolled out across the country. These are led by local authorities and provide asymptomatic testing through testing sites based in the local community. This testing is primarily focused on those who must leave home to work during lockdown.

Early years staff, as critical workers, continue to have priority access to the Department of Health and Social Care led symptomatic PCR testing via the online portal: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-getting-tested.