Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many local authorities have spent the funds allocated to them to support people self-isolating during the COVID-19 pandemic; how many such authorities are refusing new applications; and of those local authorities that are funding such payments from their own budgets, (1) how much they have spent on such payments, and (2) whether they will be reimbursed for them.

We are working closely with all 314 lower tier and unitary local authorities to collate information on how the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme is progressing and will release information on the number of applications, successful applications and amounts paid out in due course.

If a local authority has used all of its discretionary funding, it is for that authority to decide whether to accept further applications or whether to use other sources of funding. However, the funding made available to local authorities to make discretionary payments under the scheme has been increased to £20 million per month from March 2021.