Covid PCR tests: Call to investigate cost of travel tests in Wales

A Welsh MP has asked the monopolies watchdog to investigate Welsh ministers' insistence people returning to Wales from abroad use a single NHS provider for Covid PCR tests.

Tory MP David TC Davies says NHS tests cost more "than people need to pay".

He contrasts this with travellers in England being able to "shop around different providers" to save money.

Welsh ministers say NHS testing ensures any positive cases and harmful variants are identified as early as possible.

Test requirements apply to travellers returning to Wales, even if they arrive at an airport or port in England.

• Cost of travellers' PCR tests in Wales criticised

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced a review into the Covid testing system for travellers after complaints about pricing and performance among some private providers in England.

Mr Davies, a UK government Wales Office minister and Conservative MP for Monmouth, then wrote to the CMA agreeing that "a review is needed to protect holiday makers" and urging them to "look very carefully indeed at the cost of PCR testing in Wales".

How much do the NHS tests cost?

The cost of an NHS test is set by the UK government.

It has been reduced from £88 for a single test to £68, but in England people can choose between private providers and could pay less than £50 per test.

First Minister Mark Drakeford rejected calls to change Wales' policy last month.

Welsh ministers are urging people not to travel abroad for holidays this summer and he said: "I don't intend to divert the activities of my officials into making it easier for people to do something that the Welsh government so clearly thinks is unadvisable."

Who needs to take a PCR test when they return to Wales?

• People over the age of 11 must have proof of a negative coronavirus test before they travel to Wales from overseas, with some exemptions.

• All travellers aged five and over must have a post-arrival testing package booked before they return to Wales.

• Those travelling to Wales from green-list countries need to take a PCR test on day two after arrival, even if their flight or ferry arrived in England, and do not need to isolate.

• People who are fully vaccinated and have travelled from an amber country to Wales, excluding France, also need to take a PCR test on day two of quarantine and do not need to isolate.

• People travelling from an amber country who are not fully vaccinated will need to take another test on day eight and must isolate for 10 days.

• If you have visited or passed through a red-list country you will only be able to enter Wales via a designated port of entry in England or Scotland. You will need to take a PCR on days two and eight of isolation and quarantine for 10 days in a managed quarantine hotel.

Richard Cobourne says travellers from Wales should be offered a choice

Richard Cobourne, who lives near Tintern in Monmouthshire, travels to the Canary Islands regularly to run his villa rental business and wants more choice for people living in Wales.

"It seems to me the Welsh government are imposing some strictures here that make it very difficult for travellers - and remember it's not just holiday-makers that are going abroad, it's business travellers," he said.

"We have villa rentals out there which are providing our pension, they are our income."

"If you travel a mile and a half that way," said Mr Cobourne, pointing to the border with England, "you have a choice of 422 testers".

"If you use a private provider in Wales, that is prohibited, and you'll be fined £1,000."

"I believe travellers from Wales should be offered a choice."

Suzanne Cumpston says there is confusion over test rules

Suzanne Cumpston, of Sam Smith Travel in Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, said the differing rules on tests had caused confusion, with some travellers buying the wrong tests.

"We've seen people come into the office for advice, who have already booked their holiday - not with us - and they have booked the wrong test. They've gone on to websites looking to compare Covid PCR test prices for international travel and they've booked what they think is the cheapest and best quality test out there.

"I'm sure all of my colleagues in the travel industry would love to see - and the public more importantly - four aligned nations in the United Kingdom.

"We need the governments to be aligned as much as possible," she said.

Helen Furlong, a personal travel agent based in Aberdare, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast £68 per test was a lot of money, especially for families.

"In Wales there are a lot of people who work really very hard and have to save for a long time for their holiday and then to add the extra layer of cost on top of it is almost the straw that breaks the camel's back," she said.

David TC Davies said Welsh ministers did not have the right to make holidays abroad more difficult

On Monday, the UK government removed some of the private testing companies from their list of approved providers in England, because of "cowboy behaviour".

Mr Davies welcomed the clampdown in England, and said: "We're actually in a worse situation in Wales because we don't even have the possibility of shopping around different providers."

He said the Welsh government should recognise that "people have a right to go on holiday and they have not got the right to try to make it difficult".

"They should allow people to have exactly the same access to cheaper private providers as the UK government quite rightly do in England."

"All of the results are fed into the NHS anyway and test, track and trace kick in in England if you have a positive test, that's the whole purpose for having it."

A spokesperson for the CMA said: "We can confirm we have received the letter from David TC Davies MP.

"As part of our review we are considering evidence received from across the UK about issues in the PCR testing market."

How do Welsh ministers respond?

The Welsh government said: "It is critical any positive cases and harmful variants are identified at the earliest opportunity.

"For this reason, for the time being, we require the tests to be provided by the NHS, so that we can identify positive cases as quickly as possible for our Test, Trace, Protect system to follow up."

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