Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether parents who need to care for children who are self-isolating as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic are eligible for the one-off payment of £500 through the NHS Test and Trace Support Payment scheme.

The Test and Trace Support Payment of £500 was introduced on 28 September, to support people on low incomes who are unable to work from home if they are told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace and will lose income as a result.

Eligibility for a Test and Trace Support Payment is restricted to people who have been told to stay at home and self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace, either because they have tested positive for COVID-19 themselves, or have recently been in close contact with someone who has tested positive.

If a child is self-isolating because they have tested positive, other household members will also need to self-isolate and will be able to claim under the scheme, provided they meet the other eligibility criteria. Parents or guardians of children who have to self-isolate because of contact with someone outside their household who has tested positive are not eligible.