Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what mechanisms they have in place, if any, to check that results from COVID-19 PCR tests provided by private companies for those entering England from abroad meet the public health requirement to return test results within two days.

We closely monitor the performance of private providers, including delivery and testing services. Those providing inadequate services receive a warning allowing the company to demonstrate it has rectified its service or it is removed from the GOV.UK list. Private providers may be reinstated to the list once they have undertaken corrective action and provided the Department with such evidence.

The information requested on the number of companies which have failed to meet the two day requirement is not currently available, as this data is not yet centrally validated. No providers have been removed as a direct result of failing to meet the two-day test result return requirement alone. All providers have a legal requirement to report on a daily basis to achieve all minimum standards, which includes the returning of test results within two days.