Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to evaluate different contact-tracing technologies and the possible timeframes for their implementation.

We are working with leading tech firms and experts in clinical safety and digital ethics in developing our contact-tracing app, drawing on a wide range of commercial, academic and international best practice. The technology is based on research evidence developed by epidemiologists, mathematical modellers and ethicists.

We are actively considering when the best time would be to roll-out the app. Scaled-up contact tracing is likely to have greatest value when we have achieved reductions in the incidence of the virus to ensure low levels of transmission are maintained.