30 October 2020

Dear MP,

We are extremely concerned that the UK Government is failing to adequately protect and support financially vulnerable parents from debt and poverty due to the way the Test and Trace Support Payment works. We are therefore calling on Parliamentarians to take action to ensure parents who are unable to work when their child is sent home from school or a childcare setting due to Covid19, have access to the Test and Trace Support Payments. 

The Government has recognised that those who work outside of the home and are on low incomes will have no access to funds if required to isolate for two weeks by the NHS Test and Trace system. This will mean they are less likely to follow the rules as they will fall into debt. When announcing the scheme, the Prime Minister said: 

‘’While most people are doing their absolute level best to comply with the rules, I don’t want to see a situation where people don’t feel they are financially able to self-isolate. That’s why we’re also introducing a new £500 Test and Trace Support payment for those on low incomes who are required by NHS Test and Trace to remain at home to help stop the spread of the virus.”

However, parents who cannot go to work because their child has been sent home from school due to a requirement to self isolate because of a positive case in their ‘bubble’ do not qualify for the payment. This is despite the fact that just as many will be on a low income and unable to work from home. The Test and Trace Support Payment is only accessible to those who are personally told to isolate by the NHS Test and Trace system because they either have symptoms of Covid19 or they have been in contact with someone who could have Covid19. Children are not included in this process and this leaves parents financially vulnerable. 

Data from the Department for Education shows that 21% of schools have sent home pupils due to compromised ‘bubbles’ since September. There is currently no statutory paid leave entitlement available to parents. Those with supportive employers, able to work from home, are more likely to be able to continue working without their income being affected. This is not the case for low income parents unable to work from home, many of whom have been in touch with us. 

Research by Pregnant Then Screwed found that 37% of parents said that should their child be sent home from school to isolate that they would need to borrow money, 26% said they would be unable to pay their rent or mortgage and would fall into arrears and 11% said they would have to skip meals. This situation is likely to be more acute for single parent families. 

The existing system fails to address the needs of parents who work outside of the home, particularly single parents. It leaves parents and their children in a situation where they don’t feel financially able to self isolate. It leaves them with no choice but to care for their children at home while risking further poverty and debt. 

We need your support to ensure Test and Trace Support Payments are available to parents who are unable to work when their child is sent home from school or a childcare setting due to a requirement on their child to self-isolate. 

We would therefore be grateful if you could ask any of the following parliamentary questions:

• To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if they will urgently update the test and trace support payment eligibility criteria to include the parents of children sent home from school or a childcare setting due to a requirement to self isolate 
• To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if they will urgently update the test and trace support payment eligibility criteria to include the parents of children sent home from school or a childcare setting due to a requirement to self isolate 

 

Alternatively, if you could write to the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, copying in the Chancellor of the Exchequer, stating that:

Parents unable to work when their child is sent home from school or a childcare setting due to a requirement on their child to self-isolate, do not currently have access to Test and Trace isolation payments. This leaves many low-income parents financially vulnerable, particularly single parents. It means they have no choice but to care for their children at home while risking further poverty and debt. Test and Trace Support Payments should be made available to parents who are unable to work when their child is sent home from school or a childcare setting due to a requirement on their child to self-isolate.

Thank you for your support. Do let us know if you have any questions or if you would like to discuss further actions on this issue.

Yours Sincerely,

 

Joeli Brearley

Chief Exec, Pregnant Then Screwed

 

Victoria Benson

CEO, Gingerbread 

Jane Van Zyl 

Chief Exec, Working Families