Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to expand the coronavirus job retention scheme to allow (a) schools and (b) other publicly funded organisations to access that scheme for staff who are clinically extremely vulnerable and who cannot attend work during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown and are unable to work from home.

Those working for fully funded public sector organisations, including those that are clinically extremely vulnerable, should be paid as normal out of existing budgets.

Arrangements should be made to facilitate working from home wherever possible, and reprioritisation and redeployment should be considered to minimise issues with service delivery.

Where a clinically extremely vulnerable individual works for a public sector organisation that is not fully funded by public grants, and working from home is not possible, furloughing may be appropriate. This remains at the employer’s discretion and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claims should remain proportionate to the impact on revenue disruption.

Schools have continued to receive their core funding in full throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Guidance on financial support for education, early years and children’s social care can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care#sector-specific-guidance