Shadow Chancellor urges government to expand self-isolation support to help avoid a fourth lockdown

Labour Party proposes wider eligibility for Test and Trace Payment and reform of 'broken system' of statutory sick pay

The Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds has urged the government to expand self-isolation support to avoid a fourth national lockdown.

Announcing new Labour proposals today - that seek to address concerns that just three in ten people asked to self-isolate are doing so - the Shadow Chancellor says the current system of self-isolation support must be improved so that -

• anyone who doesn’t have access to occupational sick pay are eligible to receive the £500 Test and Trace Support Payment (TTSP);
• low-income parents of self-isolating children can also receive the TTSP;
• people subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ rule can access support; and
• statutory sick pay is reformed so that its value is increased.

Warning that, without change, there will be a greater risk of a fourth lockdown, Ms Dodds says -

‘Anyone who needs support to self-isolate should be able to access it - no matter where they live or when they develop symptoms. That is the only way we can keep the virus under control when restrictions are lifted, avoid the devastating economic damage of another lockdown and help the vaccine programme succeed.

However, under the current system just three in ten people who should be self-isolating are doing so.

The government’s roadmap to recovery must improve the system of self-isolation in this country. That means expanding the Test and Trace Support Payment to those who don’t have a workplace sick pay scheme, better enforcement, and action to fix the broken system of statutory sick pay.

This will help prevent another lockdown, protect public health and secure our economy.’

For more information, see Labour calls for expansion of support for self-isolation to avoid fourth national lockdown.