Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what timeframe his Department has in place for issuing digital Covid recovery certificates; how many people were waiting for those certificates at 28 October 2021, what estimate his Department has made of the average time taken to issue certificates; and if he will make a statement.

The digital NHS COVID Pass for travel and use in England based on recovery is already available and can be accessed via the NHS App and NHS.UK. The digital Pass can be obtained following a positive National Health Service polymerase chain reaction result within the last 180 days and completion of the 10 day self-isolation period. NHS Test and Trace test results are generally available to individuals the next day or up to three days. The information requested on average waiting times for recovery passes is not held centrally. Recovery data should be available to the NHS COVID Pass service before the end of the self-isolation period, with 80% of recorded results available within two hours. Private tests are not currently included in the NHS COVID Pass.