Push to scrap free Covid tests
Ministers aim to cut costs by limiting provision to those with symptoms or in high-risk settings
MASS free Covid testing must end because of the huge costs to the taxpayer, senior government ministers believe.
Discussions are under way inside the Government to scale back the arrangements that allow everyone to have a lateral flow test and some people to have PCR tests without paying, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Under a new system, free tests might only be provided in high-risk settings such as care homes, hospitals and schools, as well as for people with symptoms, though details are not yet agreed.
Britain is an international outlier on the issue, with Germany and France moving to end universal free testing this month. This country also carries out far more tests than others: 4,022 per 1,000 people at the end of last month compared with 1,268 in Spain and 885 in Germany.
The cost of mass testing is sizeable, with one insider saying it was the equivalent of adding 1p to income tax, and there are fears taxes would have to rise were the provision to continue.
A Whitehall source supportive of a change said: “It’s agreed that universal access isn’t sustainable or necessary given high vaccination levels. We now need to decide what the parameters should be that reasonably qualify access to free testing.”
The Treasury is convinced of the case for scaling back free testing, given that 90 per cent of adults across the country have now had at least one Covid jab.
However, there is nervousness in other parts of government about the timing of the move, given uncertainty about whether Covid cases could surge this autumn and winter.
It is understood that of the four parts of government involved in Covid decision-making, the Treasury and Cabinet Office back changing the system soon but the Health and Social Care Department and No 10 are more cautious.
The issue is being discussed in the spending review negotiations taking place between the Treasury and the health department, in the lead-up to the Budget on Oct 27.
Downing Street is understood to be playing down the chances of mass free testing ending over the winter, given the Covid uncertainty. Boris Johnson’s views on the matter are unclear, but the Prime Minister is expected to have the ultimate say.
Offering free tests became a key part of the Government’s strategy for countering the pandemic last spring and has cost many billions of pounds. NHS Test and Trace, the body set up to oversee Covid testing, had a budget of £37 billion over two years.
In June, the National Audit Office reported that 691million lateral flow tests had been distributed, but that the results for almost 600million had not been registered, meaning it was impossible to know if they had been used.
With daily cases in the UK still above 36,000, critics argue that mass testing has not resulted in a decisive reduction in infections.
Currently people can receive an unlimited number of free lateral flow tests, to be delivered to their homes or picked up from pharmacies. Those with symptoms can request a free PCR test. Lateral flow tests produce a result quicker but are less reliable.
Supporters of winding down the scheme argue that given the high levels of vaccination, it is right to move some of the cost for testing away from the taxpayer.
However, testing is part of the Government’s recently published “winter plan” for tackling the pandemic and the more cautious in government argue that if the virus surges this winter, then having ended mass free testing would be politically challenging to defend.
Ministers are also to consider scrapping hotel quarantine, ending the requirement for travellers to pay out £2,285 per person to self-isolate.
Britain is one of only a handful of countries that still require such stringent restrictions despite fewer than one in 100 of people in hotel quarantine testing positive for Covid. The paper setting out options including replacing hotel quarantine with self-isolation at home will be considered by the Covid O Cabinet committee in two weeks’ time.