Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he made of the potential merits of using local providers of contact tracing as part of the Government's covid-19 test and trace programme.

We have always been clear that NHS Test and Trace must be local by default and that we do not operate alone – we work with and through partners across the country. Contact tracing happening at a local level is not separate to that happening at a national level – all the information provided feeds into NHS Test and Trace. This is a team effort – it will only work if national and local systems work together.

NHS Test and Trace is working, and local action to tackle outbreaks and keep people safe is a crucial part of the national service.