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 access to covid-19 testing for (a) residents and (b) staff in supported living settings.

We have begun to roll out an initial round of testing in extra care and supported living settings which meet certain risk-based criteria. To access testing, settings must be a closed community with substantial facilities shared between multiple people and where most residents are receiving personal care (rather than help with cooking, cleaning and shopping).

We have been piloting testing initially in Bromley, Hertfordshire and Sheffield. National roll-out will begin in September. As with care homes, we will use the data from the initial testing rounds to inform our approach.