Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answers of 4 November 2020 to Question 109149 on Remote Education: Merton and of 13 November 2020 to Question 109150 on Remote Education: Coronavirus, how many devices (a) had been distributed, (b) had been allocated and (c) were available for allocation to schools by (i) 20 October 2020 and (ii) 24 October 2020.

As part of over £195 million invested to support remote education and access to online social care, over 340,000 laptops and tablets are being made available this term to support disadvantaged children in year 3 to 11 whose face-to-face education may be disrupted. This supplements over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 51,000 4G wireless routers, which have already been delivered during the summer term.

Laptops and tablets are owned by schools, trusts or local authorities who can lend these to the children and young people who need them most and who may experience disruption to face-to-face education due to COVID-19.

Information on the devices provided this term to schools, local authorities and academy trusts as of 23 October 2020 is published here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/929064/Ad-hoc_stats_note_shipped_data_231020_FINAL.pdf

Devices provided as of 27 August 2020 is published here, which includes 547 devices delivered to Merton Council: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/912888/Devices_and_4G_wireless_routers_progress_data_as_of_27_August_2020.pdf

Allocations were originally equivalent to a school’s potential need if it fully closed. Attendance data suggests most schools are not closing fully, but instead are supporting small groups of children that are not able to attend school because they are self-isolating. The Department has changed the number of devices allocated to each school to reflect this. In the context of significant global demand for laptops and tablets, this ensures that as many children as possible can benefit from a device at the point at which their face-to-face education is disrupted. If schools are experiencing disruption to face-to-face education and believe they have a need for additional devices, they should contact the Department’s service team to request additional laptops or tablets.