Educational Settings: Reopening

Felicity Buchan Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Nick Gibb]

The hon. Member will be aware of all the work that the Department for Education, Ministers and the Secretary of State have done in recent months, and for more than a year, on the children and young people’s mental health Green Paper to ensure that we roll out, over the next few years, a serious series of support for mental health provision in our schools. It is a huge programme, which is designed to help children with serious mental health issues. It is also designed to alert and to take action when there are early signs of mental health conditions in children. It is a huge project, and one we are continuing with. We have put in place a range of measures to help tackle the mental health concerns that the pandemic is throwing up, including the action group set up by the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford. The £8 million training initiative for school staff to support children’s wellbeing is already up and running.

[Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con) [V]]

The majority of parents in Kensington would like to see their children return to school after the half-term break, especially with proper testing in place. The Prime Minister assured me in early January that there was a “cautious presumption” for children to return at that time. Since early January, rates in London have fallen significantly. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that everything is being done to get children back into school and that we have not ruled out a return after the mid-term break?

[Nick Gibb]

As a schools Minister, no one in the House—not even my right hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) or, indeed, my hon. Friend—is keener than I am to see all schools back and open to all children and young people, but we will be led by the scientific advice when we make that decision, and that will be how we best tackle the transmission of this virus in our communities.