Covid-19: Educational Settings

Baroness Andrews Excerpts

Thursday 7th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, in relation to GCSEs, the majority of children in England transition at 16. That may not be the case in other devolved nations and therefore examinations at 16 are an important part of our system. In relation to catch-up, there are of course plans in the department about how to get the information about how behind children are and how we support schools. The noble Lord’s idea is a novel one but, as he indicates, it has mammoth implications. Thinking about the higher education sector, would that be mandatory or voluntary, and would students really want to do it? Also, it would create a huge bulge into higher education at some point. The idea is novel, but it has mammoth implications for the sector. We need to focus on supporting schools in order to get the best education for those children at the moment, and that is what the department is focused on doing.

[Baroness Andrews (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I want to come back to the questions asked by my noble friend Lord Watson of Invergowrie about early years. I was shocked that there seemed to be simply a passing reference to early years in the Statement, yet the Early Years Alliance does not share the confidence of the Government or the Minister. It says that nursery workers

“are being asked to remain on the frontline during the most worrying period of a global pandemic with no PPE, no testing and no access to vaccinations”

and the minimum of funding. The Minister has spoken about the science, but she has not told us whether the science covers the position and the vulnerability of nursery workers themselves in those settings. Secondly, why have the Government ceased to provide funding at this point? The Minister must know that the Coram foundation, in its report in December on the state of early years, predicted massive losses of nursery preschool provision in the coming year. It is a deeply worrying situation. Can she answer those two questions now?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the staff in the early years sector have done a sterling job as well, and over 80% of early years were in their settings before Christmas. These are not unsafe environments. We base our decisions on the public health evidence. These settings were given a very small amount of PPE just in case there was a pupil who was symptomatic on the premises, which was the same for schools. Those staff have access to community testing, of which we have ramped up the capacity. The data on which I rely, in relation to the rates of disease among the workforce, are the ONS data that we have. There was no higher prevalence among education staff than in relation to the general population. The sector is being funded on a per-attendee basis now, but I know that the Secretary of State was meeting the sector today or yesterday and we are in close contact with it regarding its sustainability.