Schools: Air Conditioning

(asked on 24th January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons of ineligibility he has turned down applications from schools for air purification units; how many schools and other contexts in which children receive education have been refused one or more air purification units for which they applied; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Robin Walker Portrait
Robin Walker
This question was answered on 28th January 2022

Air cleaning units were allocated to providers based on need, using the eligibility criteria we have set out in our guidance here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12cU_I5q0v1_my97yPMpb87RsSL5d5lpj.

As of 24 January, we received applications from 1,550 providers. Of these, 1,265 were successful and 285 settings will not receive air cleaning units as they did not meet the eligibility criteria set out in our guidance. For example, the room applied for may not have reported sustained CO2 readings above 1,500ppm, or may have been an unsuitable space, such as a hall, corridor or dining room.

Natural ventilation is best where that is achievable and the department has robust evidence that, in most cases, teaching spaces and classrooms benefit from sufficient natural ventilation. That evidence includes the responses to our recent survey of providers using the CO2 monitors that the department published on 24 January 2022, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/co2-monitor-survey-and-applications-for-air-cleaning-units. This survey showed that only 3% of providers reported sustained high CO2 readings (above 1,500ppm) that could not be remedied through quick fixes or remedial building works.

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