Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to protect clinically vulnerable people who teach in schools from covid-19.

The Department has worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Public Health England (PHE) to publish guidance to support schools to welcome back all children from the start of the autumn term.

The guidance provides a framework for school leaders to put in place proportionate protective measures for pupils and staff. These measures include regular handwashing, promoting good respiratory hygiene, and schools minimising contact between individuals.

Where schools implement the system of controls outlined in our guidance, in line with their own workplace risk assessment, PHE and DHSC confirm that these measures create an inherently safer environment for children and staff where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced. It is therefore appropriate for teachers and other school staff to attend their workplace setting. This includes staff who are clinically vulnerable. School leaders should explain to staff the measures the school has put in place to reduce risks.

While the national restrictions introduced from 5 November are in force, school staff who are clinically extremely vulnerable (as opposed to clinically vulnerable) are advised to work from home and not to go into work. Individuals in this group will have been identified through a letter from the NHS or their GP and may have been advised to shield in the past. Staff in this group should talk to their employers about how they will be supported, including to work from home where possible, during the period of national restrictions. All other staff should continue to attend work, including those living in a household with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable.

The guidance for schools on full opening can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

The guidance on the new national restrictions can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-and-childcare-settings-new-national-restrictions-from-5-november-2020#schools.