Neena Bhati, head of campaigns at consumer body Which?, told MPs on the House of Commons transport committee there had been progress in removing lateral flow test providers who were not delivering good service, from the government list.
“But we would like to see more checks at the beginning, rather than when consumers have already been impacted by them,” she added.
While Jenny Willott, chair of the CAA Consumer Panel, said the process of finding a test supplier needed to be “really simple with one place to go to get the information they need”.
“The recommendations by the CMA (Competition & Markets Authority) need to be implemented,” she added.
“It’s really about ensuring there are minimum standards being adhered to – not just about the quality of tests, but whether they are delivered in time and you get the results when you need them. It’s fundamentally important to having confidence in being able to travel.”
Bhati said consumers remained “confused” as to why free NHS lateral flow tests could not be used by travellers returning to the UK, when these tests have been acceptable for use when attending sporting or entertainment events.
She added that Which? was not calling for NHS lateral flow tests to be allowed for travel, as long as private test providers provided a “safe, reliable and affordable” service for travellers.
Both Bhati and Willott called for the Department for Transport and Beis (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) to work together across several areas of travel regulation reform in order to close "gaps" in consumer protection.
Currently, there are three areas of regulation under review: an examination of the Package Travel Regulations by Beis; the CAA’s proposed reform of the Atol system; and airline insolvency legislation.
Willott said airline insolvency reform had been “bumped down the list of priorities” in the past 18 months as other issues became more important during the pandemic.
