Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of schools being told to dispose of COVID-19 testing kits.

Regular asymptomatic testing is no longer recommended in any education or childcare setting, including in special educational needs and disabilities providers, alternative provision, and children’s social care. This may mean that some providers have surplus stock of COVID-19 test kits that are no longer needed.

The UK Health Security Agency will be issuing further communications to education providers in due course about how to manage any surplus stock. In the meantime, education providers have been advised to continue to store any remaining test kits and to no longer hand out test kits to staff or pupils or dispose of test kits, unless they have expired.