Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will extend the provision of free (a) PCR and (b) Lateral Flow testing kits for the public beyond 1 April 2021.

From 1 April 2022, free access to asymptomatic and symptomatic tests for the public in England will end. The Government will continue to provide free symptomatic testing for patients in hospital, for whom a test is required for clinical management or to support treatment pathways and those eligible for COVID-19 treatments due to their higher risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19.

Patients in this higher risk cohort will be contacted directly and sent lateral flow device tests for symptomatic testing and guidance on how to reorder tests. Asymptomatic lateral flow device testing will continue in some high-risk settings where infection can spread rapidly while prevalence is high.