Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government has provided funding or resources to investigate the potential for his Department to make use of the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Government has not provided funding or resources to investigate the potential for MHCLG to make use of the NHS Test and Trace database system.

MHCLG does not use or access identifiable Test and Trace data and has no current plans to do so. Test and Trace data is sensitive health data shared with local authority public health teams on an exceptional basis to support contact tracing and containment of Covid-19, and to provide relevant support to those required to self-isolate. We continue to work with DHSC, the data-owners, to provide guidance to local authorities on how best to use the data

Ministers and officials from my Department have regular discussions with counterparts in other government departments on a range of matters relating to local government.