Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what laboratory capacity in universities and colleges he has secured for covid-19 testing.

We do not publish data on individual laboratory capacities. We have six Lighthouse Laboratories operating with a range of partners across the United Kingdom at Milton Keynes, Alderley Park, Glasgow, Cambridge, Newport and Charnwood. We have additional Lighthouse Laboratories in Newcastle, Brant’s Bridge and Plymouth opening over the coming months.

In addition to the growing Lighthouse Laboratory network, there are partnership agreements with the public, private and academic sectors. This includes Antrim Laboratory in Northern Ireland, and partner laboratories at Birmingham University, Imperial College London, Queen Mary University of London, Kings Health Partners and a partnership between Health Services Laboratories and University College London.