Covid-19: Impact on Attendance in Education Settings Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Education
Stephen Metcalfe
Main Page: Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)Department Debates - View all Stephen Metcalfe's debates with the Department for Education
Covid-19: Impact on Attendance in Education Settings
Stephen Metcalfe Excerpts(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Gavin Williamson
At every stage, the Government have been one of the first to act in order to keep this country safe; this was one of the first countries in Europe to impose travel restrictions on India as a result of the delta variant. The new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the Transport Secretary and the Prime Minister take that responsibility incredibly seriously.
Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)
I welcome my right hon. Friend’s comments. I have recently finished a 10-day period of self-isolation following someone in my office testing positive for covid. However, the flatmate of that person was able to go about their daily life in a normal way, using the Government’s daily testing trial. As we learn to live with covid, surely it is time to move quickly to a more nuanced approach that does not endlessly interrupt children’s education, as it cannot be right to have learning continuously disrupted by unnecessary self-isolation.
Gavin Williamson
There is nothing that I can really disagree with my hon. Friend about, so I had better just sit down, hadn’t I?