Educational Settings

Rachel Reeves Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

I can absolutely give my hon. Friend that reassurance, and I very much take on board the point he makes about the need for flexibility for schools to be able to demonstrate some discretion.

[Rachel Reeves (Leeds West) (Lab)]

Parents may not be key workers but they will be key workers in their homes, because they are the ones who are paying the mortgage, the rent and the bills. So if parents cannot go out to work because their children cannot go to school, who will pay their salaries?

[Gavin Williamson]

In this statement, we are dealing with making sure that we have the provision we need for those key workers in order to sustain our NHS, but I very much accept that many wider issues are raised as a result of this. That is why we have had some reluctance to be in a position of closing schools rapidly, but when the evidence and the science point out the fact that we need to make changes, it is right that we do so.