Education Settings: Wider Opening

Ian Mearns Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

My hon. Friend highlights an issue that a number of schools are facing, and we are looking at working with them to add extra flexibility. They can perhaps look at using different facilities and different resources that may be available to them in order to be able to expand provision within a school.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

I noted the Secretary of State’s throw-away criticism of my hon. Friend the shadow Education Secretary about the National Education Union. I found it a tad ironic when he did not even consult the National Association of Head Teachers, the headteachers professional association, regarding the original 1 June restart date. We all want to get our children back into school, but far too many parents currently still do not regard it as safe, and that is understandable and hardly surprising when, in parts of my region, the north-east, the incidence of covid-19 is five times greater than in parts of the south-west. A one-size-fits-all policy should never have been considered. Will the Secretary of State properly consider that when moving forward?

[Gavin Williamson]

That is why, as I stated earlier, we want to work with local authorities that have concerns to make sure they are in a position to open all their schools and, where they face practical problems or issues, to discuss that with them to ensure that all their schools are open. If we have to close schools, we will do that in conjunction with Public Health England, but it is vital that we get all schools open for these year groups, while always recognising that there might be clusters of schools that have to close for short periods.