FOI Reference: FOI/2021/3420
You asked
Please supply statistics of the total number, face value and total costs of vouchers issued in support of the Covid-19 Infection survey (and any successors and related surveys), broken down by issued/redeemed and quarter since the beginning of survey/s to date (or the nearest easily cut off)?
Please also provide the names of the retailers where these vouchers can be redeemed and the costs of administering the vouchers?
We said
Thank you for your email.
The COVID-19 Infection Survey has been vital in understanding the spread of coronavirus in the community and informing the Government's pandemic response.
It aims to recruit entire households and follow them for a month or until the end of the study, any time from 3 months to 2 years.
The longitudinal follow-up and inclusion of everyone in the household allows important additional insight, because it allows us to work out with much greater precision who has had COVID-19, even if they didn't realise it at the time. This gives us the best understanding of the spread of coronavirus and with this data informing such important decisions, it's vital it is as representative as possible and of the highest quality.
It is routine practice in surveys to offer modest compensation and the payment of vouchers was considered appropriate based on other surveys, such as the Labour Force Survey.
Participants are not obliged to accept the vouchers; however, we offer them to reflect the time and inconvenience whole households experience taking part in this crucial study, and in particular allowing study workers to come to their homes.
We keep our incentives policy under regular review to ensure that they act as an effective incentive and offer value for money.
The number of enrolment vouchers issued between April 2020 and 18. November 2021 is 528,541. The face value of each of those vouchers is £50 therefore the value of initial enrolment vouchers issued is £27,427,050 (528,541 x £50).
The number of subsequent vouchers issued totals 6,389,861; ordinarily the face value is £25. Frequently the face value of subsequent vouchers exceeds £25 and can range between £25 and £475 due to payments for multiple visits being grouped together (i.e., four visits equal £100), total monetary value of £184,095,175.00.
The total number of vouchers issued to 18th November 2021 is 6,918,402 with a face value of £211,522,225. The total number of vouchers redeemed is 5,589,573 with a value of £160,964,225.00.
Total cost of vouchers issued up to the 18 November 2021 is £211,522,225 with 528541 participants.
List of evoucher retailers below. They are also listed here https://www.ons.gov.uk/surveys/informationforhouseholdsandindividuals/householdandindividualsurveys/covid19infectionsurveycis/howtotakepart#payment-for-taking-part
Online
- ASOS
- Bloom & Wild
- Boohoo
- Buyagift
- Cineworld
- Crown Carveries
- Deliveroo
- Eurostar
- Flightgiftcard
- Google Play
- Hotels.com
- Inspire Travel
- Inspire UK Staycation
- iTunes
- Jet 2 Holidays by Inspire
- lastminute.com
- London Theatre Direct
- MANGO
- Naked Wines
- Not On The High Street
- Photobox
- Red Letter Days
- Royal Caribbean by Inspire
- Swarovski
- Ticketmaster
- TripGift
- TUI by Inspire
- Uber
- Uber Eats
- Virgin
- Virgin Experience
- Wingly
- Zalando
In-store
- All Bar One
- ASK Italian
- Browns
- Caffè Nero
- Chef & Brewer
- Clarks
- Costa
- Eating Inn
- Ember Inns
- Farmhouse Inns
- Fayre & Square
- Flaming Grill
- Foot Locker
- Global Hotel Card
- Good Night Inns
- Great British Pub Card
- Greene King
- Halfords
- Harvester
- Hotelgift
- Hungry Horse
- Innkeeper's Lodge
- Loch Fyne
- Miller and Carter
- Morrisons
- Nando's
- Nicholsons
- Old English
- O'Neill's
- Pizza Hut Restaurants
- Primark
- Sizzling Pubs
- Stonehouse
- Tesco
- The Dining Out Card
- The Restaurant Card
- Toby Carvery
- Vintage Inns
- Wacky Warehouse
- Wagamama
- Zizzi
Both online and in-store
- adidas
- Argos
- Arsenal F.C.
- ASDA
- B&Q
- Blackwells
- Butlins by Inspire
- Currys PC World
- Decathlon
- Ernest Jones
- H&M
- H. Samuel
- Habitat
- HomeSense
- John Lewis & Partners
- JoJo Maman Bébé
- Laithwaite's
- Lavish Spa & Beauty
- Marks and Spencer
- National Book Tokens
- National Trust
- New Look
- Nike
- River Island
- Sainsbury's
- Sports Direct
- Ted Baker
- The Body Shop
- The Entertainer
- The White Company
- TK Maxx
- Waitrose
Below is where you can spend L2S vouchers in store. The information is also available here https://www.highstreetvouchers.com/gift/where-to-spend-love2shop-cards
A
- Alton Towers Resort*
- Alton Towers Waterpark*
- American Golf
- Argos in-store and online**
B
- Barclays Diamonds
- Beaverbrooks
- Blacks
- Boots*
C
- Chisholm Hunter
- Currys*
D
- Denby
- DJM Music
E
- Edinburgh Woollen Mill
- Ernest Jones*
F
- Foot Locker
- Fopp
G
- GO Outdoors
- Gulliver's Theme Parks*
H
I
L
- Loofe's Clothing
- Love2shop Holidays**
M
- M&S*
- Matalan*
N
- New Look
P
- Peacocks
- PizzaExpress
- Ponden Home
R
- Real Food Hub
- River Island
S
- Schuh
- Schuh Kids
- Semichem
- Shoe HQ
- Shoezone
- Simon One
- Simply Thank You Gifts
- Slaters
T
- The Entertainer
- The Food Warehouse
- The Original Factory Shop
- The Perfume Shop*
- The Real Food Hub
- The Works
- TJ Hughes
- TK Maxx
V
- Virgin Experience Days
W
- Waltons the Jewellers (Chester & Wrexham)
- Waterstones*
- Wilko*