Question reference: S6W-01618
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 20 July 2021
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 August 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason mandatory "day two" COVID-19 tests for return travellers from a green list country cost £88 each, in light of reports that, in England, these tests can be purchased for between £10 and £15.
Answer
The Covid-19 test kits are home PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace. The cost of the kits is set by the UK Government and the process managed through its contract with the travel management company, so we are unable to influence the cost of these.
Currently, we are not using private test providers for international travellers arriving into Scotland from green and amber list countries.
We are having on-going discussion with the UK government on using private test providers, particularly about the speed and reliability of the flow of data from private companies. We are keen to understand fully the key performance indicators (KPIs) that have been recently set for these companies and the process should these not be met.