Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what inspections they are undertaking on the (1) quality, and (2) standards, of accommodation and services provided in hotels contracted to provide quarantine facilities for passengers arriving from countries on the red list during the COVID-19 pandemic; and what steps they are taking to supervise such hotels to ensure (a) that vulnerable people are protected, and (b) that the regulations on isolation are properly followed in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Department has contracted to provide 24 hours a day, seven days a week liaison officer cover in all managed quarantine hotels. We receive daily reports from the embedded liaison officers for each hotel providing assurance of the facilities provided and ensure any areas of concern are addressed. We also engage with hotels and service providers on a regular basis to monitor the quality and effectiveness of services provided.

We have allocated resources to ensure that vulnerable people in quarantine hotels are signposted to the appropriate support and follow safeguarding procedures where appropriate. All hotels have a 24 hours a day, seven days a week security presence and access to an onsite medic. All hotels and security providers assigned to the quarantine service follow our standard operating procedures to ensure that guests remain in a COVID-19 secure environment for the entirety of their stay.