Whilst the tests are currently free at the point of use, of course they are not free. I saw the cost mentioned on a thread recently, and the poster gave it as £8/test to the taxpayer. I was really shocked, and tried to see if this was true. There has been no clarity published on the cost of individual tests, and the only figures I found were in this Welsh newspaper which is dated July 2021, and of course the prices of LFTs may well have been cheaper since this date, given the amount the UK government has bought. The government has repeatedly not given information on the costs, despite many requests, which makes me think that this figure could well be the truth.
But, given that I have had one child in my class test positive this week, and under the guidance, everyone as a close contact is supposed to test daily for 7 days. That will cost over £1300, just for this class alone. One class. Each time a person tests positive. I am not convinced that the current process and the cost is actually doing anything to proactively stop the spread of covid. £1300 could, and would go a long way towards better ventilation, towards something that isn't a one-use item and that might actually make a difference in combating infections.
Of course, as I have said there is no figure given so it could well be less, but I think still now that the point is, that the money would have been better spent on improving ventilation in schools to prevent illnesses, and not just Covid either.