Covid-19: Impact on Attendance in Education Settings

Clive Efford Excerpts

Wednesday 30th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

I assure my hon. Friend that I want schools in Keighley and Ilkley always to be open and never to be closed, and that is certainly something that we want to ensure happens. We do not want to see schools in different parts of the country having to close, which is why we will take all the measures that are required to ensure they stay open.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

Schools will not stay open because the Secretary of State wills it—we need a long-term plan. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care told the House on Monday that we are going to have to live with the virus. What does that mean for schools? Where is the plan for improved ventilation and Nightingale classrooms so that children can socially distance in schools and not have to be sent home in bubbles? The virus is not going away—where is the plan?

[Gavin Williamson]

The hon. Gentleman seems to have paid little heed to some of the measures we have put in place to ensure that children can get back into school. That is probably not surprising given that his party’s policy seems very rarely to be to encourage and make sure that schools are open—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman had the opportunity to ask his question—

[Clive Efford]

You sent our kids back to school with the Kent variant!

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order.