Coronavirus: Education Setting Attendance and Support for Pupils Debate

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Department: Department for Education

Coronavirus: Education Setting Attendance and Support for Pupils

Paul Howell Excerpts
Thursday 23rd September 2021

(2 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Alex Burghart Portrait Alex Burghart
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Yes, all of the 1.35 million laptops that my hon. Friend refers to are still in use and are still out in the community. It was a major offer that the Government made to children who were digitally disadvantaged and it came, as he will recall, with a wi-fi offer, which made sure they had the connectivity they needed. This was a very important initiative by the DFE, and we are sticking by it.

Paul Howell Portrait Paul Howell (Sedgefield) (Con)
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Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Greenfield school in Newton Aycliffe in the Sedgefield constituency, and it was great to see so many children and teachers back where they belong. With the advent of being able to get vaccines for 12 to 15-year-olds, can I ask the Minister to make sure that both the parents and their children are getting the proper information about the validity of vaccines for both groups, not listening to the nonsense on some aspects of social media?

Alex Burghart Portrait Alex Burghart
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Absolutely. The best source of information on vaccines is, remains, and will always be the NHS. Hon. Members can rest assured that the Government are following the Gillick competencies, which have been in place since the mid-80s.