Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Paragraph: 32
Any service user who wants and needs a test must have easy access to that...
Conclusion
Any service user who wants and needs a test must have easy access to that test. This also means that asylum seekers should be informed of the opportunity to request a test and of the associated translation support available to them through that process; they should be provided with any financial or transport assistance required to reach an appropriate testing facility. With a clear testing policy in place, it is essential that all accommodation providers proactively monitor and ensure that their service users are accessing the assistance they need.
Paragraph Reference:
32
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Government takes the health of those in asylum accommodation and immigration removal centres (IRC) as being of the utmost importance and our accommodation providers have worked closely with Public Health leads to ensure their guidance is applied consistently and in accordance with local restrictions. In relation to testing, we do not think that the Home Office, nor our accommodating providers, should develop independent testing strategies for supported asylum seekers. We should always be guided by scientific and medical advice. The most recent advice we have received from PHE in relation to supported asylum seekers sets out that we should be seeking to take the same consistent approach with supported asylum seekers as for anyone else in the population. Specifically, that there should be testing of people if they are symptomatic or if they are in any accommodation where cases are confirmed as part of an outbreak management strategy. We are working closely with individual Local Authorities around their outbreak planning and our accommodation providers are ensuring that testing takes place in accordance with those plans, providing assistance to do so where needed. Existing public health and NHS guidance is clear on how and when a free COVID-19 test can be taken and the support that is available. We do not believe that implementation of testing, track-and-trace and other measures for the control of infectious and notifiable diseases such as COVID should be organised separately by accommodation providers.