Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Bethell on 10 December (HL10847 and HL10848), why the information sought is not held in the format requested; whether, and if so, (1) how, and (2) where, that information is held; whether they collect any data on the operational false positive rate for polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 tests; if so, which data; what plans they have to publish those data; and what quality assurance checks they undertake on their answers to parliamentary questions.

Information regarding the assessment of false negatives is not held in the format requested due to the challenges in estimating clinical sensitivity. We do not collect data on the operational false positive rate.

All Written Questions receive several stages of quality assurance to ensure that responses are accurate. All answers are drafted by subject matter experts and assured by a senior civil servant with the appropriate knowledge to certify the accuracy.