Coronavirus: are plans to pay all self-isolating Brits £500 ‘dead on arrival’?
Treasury reportedly ‘flummoxed’ by proposal to give one-off payment to everyone who tests positive for Covid
![Health Secretary Matt Hancock who is currently self-isolating after testing positive for Covid](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KvkuPV6SSTLqVi3Zo25c5G-415-80.jpg)
A newly revealed plan by ministers to pay £500 to everyone in England who tests positive for Covid-19 faces fierce opposition from Treasury officials who have lambasted the “mad idea”, according to government sources.
The Guardian is reporting that the proposed universal payment would form part of a dramatic overhaul of the existing self-isolation support package and is the “preferred position” of Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
The planned new system would increase the total cost of self-isolation payments to up to £453m a week - 12 times more than the bill for the current scheme, which applies only to people on low incomes who work from home and receive one of seven means-tested benefits.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But “the proposal could be dead on arrival, seeing as the Treasury had no idea it existed until it appeared in the press”, Politico’s London Playbook reports.
A Treasury source told the news site that the department was “flummoxed” by the suggestion, adding: “First we’ve heard, and frankly a mad idea.”
The payment support scheme is expected to be considered by the government's Covid-19 Operations Committee, chaired by Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove.
But given the Treasury’s opposition, Hancock can expect a “fierce cabinet battle” to get his department’s plan approved, says Sky News.
The health secretary came up with the proposal after government polling found that only 17% of people with symptoms are getting tested, “owing to fears that a positive result could stop people from working”, The Guardian reports.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
One Aldwych: where London's creative spirit takes centre stage
The Week Recommends This five-star Covent Garden hotel is the epitome of elegant independence
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Charlotte Dujardin and equestrianism's dark side
In the Spotlight Olympic gold medallist and dressage star's suspension over horse whipping brings abuse in horse sports back into the spotlight
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why Roman epic Those About to Die has split the critics
Talking Point Sword and sandals miniseries starring Anthony Hopkins puts spectacle above story
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Brexit, Matt Hancock and black swans: five takeaways from Covid inquiry report
The Explainer UK was 'unprepared' for pandemic and government 'failed' citizens with flawed response, says damning report
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Should masks be here to stay?
Talking Points New York Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a mask ban. Here's why she wants one — and why it may not make sense.
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Covid might be to blame for an uptick in rare cancers
The explainer The virus may be making us more susceptible to certain cancers
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Long Covid and chronic pain: is it all in the mind?
The Explainer 'Retraining the brain' could offer a solution for some long Covid sufferers
By The Week UK Published
-
Covid four years on: have we got over the pandemic?
Today's Big Question Brits suffering from both lockdown nostalgia and collective trauma that refuses to go away
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The hollow classroom
Opinion Remote school let kids down. It will take much more than extra tutoring for kids to recover.
By Mark Gimein Published
-
Excess screen time is making children only see what is in front of them
Under the radar The future is looking blurry. And very nearsighted.
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Covid-19: what to know about UK's new Juno and Pirola variants
in depth Rapidly spreading new JN.1 strain is 'yet another reminder that the pandemic is far from over'
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published