Covid costs (2022)
Request
Details of all Covid related costs to the House of Commons. Can you please tell me the following:
- the cost to date of staff hired for Covid testing, March 2020 to present
- the cost of testing capacity, March 2020 to present
- the cost of all masks, March 2020 to present
- the cost of all screens and Covid protection devices, March 2020 to present
- the cost of test and trace systems, March 2020 to present
Response
1. The cost to date of staff hired for Covid testing, March 2020 to present
This information is not held by the House of Commons. No staff were specifically hired by the House to carry out Covid testing. Instead, four posts were established to help with testing and these were allocated to existing staff, who were also supplemented by additional volunteers during peak periods.
2. The cost of testing capacity, March 2020 to present
This information is held by the House of Commons. The total cost of the testing capacity from March 2020 to the date of your request is £1,691 exc VAT, and this cost relates to the setting up of the House’s testing centre.
3. The cost of all masks, March 2020 to present
This information is held by the House of Commons. We hold the cost of all masks purchased by the House for this period, broken down by year, and this is as follows:
• 2020 – £40,987 inc VAT
• 2021 – £10,095 inc VAT
• 2022 (to the date of your request) – £9,325 inc VAT
4. The cost of all screens and Covid protection devices, March 2020 to present
This information is held by the House of Commons. The total cost for all screens and Covid protection devices purchased by the House since March 2020 to the date of your request is £64,799 exc VAT.
5. The cost of test and trace systems, March 2020 to present
Some information is held by the House of Commons in regards to your request. We hold the cost of the testing carried out under Parliament’s test and trace service. Between 1 March 2020 to the date of your request, this was £42,673 in total. Please note that this sum is comprised entirely of staffing costs.
Please also note that while the House operated Covid testing on the parliamentary estate, positive test results were logged directly with NHS England who then handled the formal test and trace system, and notified those who tested positive for Covid-19 and subsequent contact tracing that was required. The House does not hold any costs in relation to this process and you may therefore also wish to contact NHS England directly for any information they hold on this instead; contact details can be found on their website.