PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Coronavirus: Contact Tracing (24 November 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to give (a) local authorities and (b) local public health teams the (i) funding and (ii) powers to lead on contract tracing for covid-19.

Asked by:
Janet Daby (Labour)

As of 2 December, we have in place 265 local contact tracing teams. Local authorities use their expertise and resources to increase the proportion of people reached as part of a joint national and local effort to reduce COVID-19 transmission.

The Government has committed to providing further financial support to upper tier local authorities in England facing tier 2 or 3 restrictions, which is potentially over £200 million per 28 days until the end of the financial year. This is in addition to the more than £780 million of financial support already committed to local authorities. This is comprised of over £480 million provided during the period of local COVID alert levels and national restriction measures and on top of the £300 million given in June 2020 for test, trace and contain activity.

Answered by:
Helen Whately (Conservative)
15 December 2020