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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the impact that increasing levels of isolations as a result of close contact with people testing positive for covid-19 will have on the ability of local authorities to deliver services.

It is essential that everyone continues to follow national guidance on self isolation, it remains a legal requirement for people to self-isolate if they test positive and are told to do so, or are told to isolate as a close contact of a positive case by NHS Test and Trace. The public should continue to download and use the latest version of the NHS Covid-19 app to help reduce the spread of the virus

Local authorities in England have a statutory duty to provide a range of services to their communities. Local authorities have business continuity plans in place in order to continue to deliver these services and mitigate against any disruptions. Ministers and officials from my Department continue to have regular discussions with local partners to ensure appropriate plans are in place.