Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of introducing a lollipop-style covid-19 testing method for children on the (a) accuracy of tests and (b) frequency of testing of children by parents.

The UK Health Security Agency is currently trialling the use of direct LAMP, the most mature saliva test validated and available to deploy, for individuals with special educational needs and disabilities in a small number of restricted pilots. It is also being considered for other appropriate settings. These trials will consider a range of factors around the benefits of the tests and how they are used. The UKHSA will continue to review and evaluate the usability of emerging technologies.