Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to seek advice on test and trace from those European partners that have had functioning systems in place since May 2020 instead of working with the private sector.

The NHS Test and Trace service which was launched in England on 28 May, brings together testing, contact tracing and outbreak management into an end-to-end service to combat the spread of COVID-19 transmission. This involves working across local government and local communities, Public Health England, other national bodies and a wide range of partner organisations.

We have developed a test and trace service that is best for the needs of the United Kingdom and for the National Health Service, but we continue to follow guidance from the World Health Organization and we are learning from international best practice. We are working closely with other countries to understand the most effective ways for reaching as many cases and contacts as possible in order to reduce the spread of the virus.