Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many education settings have had their requests for Government-funded air cleaning units (a) approved and (b) rejected, by parliamentary constituency.

Applications for air cleaning units closed on 17 January and were assessed against strict eligibility criteria set out in the guidance, details of which can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12cU_I5q0v1_my97yPMpb87RsSL5d5lpj.

The department does not hold information on air cleaning unit allocations by either constituency or geographical region for England. As of 24 January, the department has received applications from 1,550 providers, of which 285 did not meet the eligibility criteria. For example, the room applied for may not have reported sustained CO2 readings above 1500ppm, or it may have been an unsuitable space, such as a hall, corridor, or dining room. 1,265 providers in total were eligible for air cleaning units and up to 1,000 additional units are being purchased so that the department can fulfil all eligible applications.

Natural ventilation is best where that is achievable, and the department has robust evidence that in the vast majority of cases, teaching spaces and classrooms benefit from sufficient natural ventilation. That evidence includes the responses to our recent survey of providers using the carbon dioxide monitors that the department published on 24 January, which showed that only 3% of providers reported sustained high CO2 readings (above 1500ppm) that could not be remedied through quick fixes or remedial building works, details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/co2-monitor-survey-and-applications-for-air-cleaning-units.