Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding the Government has made available to ensure that (a) children without SEN who have to self-isolate and (b) vulnerable children that are shielding have adequate access to the equipment required for remote learning; and what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of that funding.

The Department is continuing to do everything in its power to ensure that children and young people can continue to attend school and college safely, as this is the best place for them to be for their education, development and wellbeing. The Department recognises that, for some pupils, remote education will need to be an essential component in the delivery of the school curriculum, alongside on-site teaching.

The Department set out expectations for remote education provision in schools in its full opening guidance published in July 2020: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

It also published similar guidance for further education (FE) colleges in August 2020: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision/what-fe-colleges-and-providers-will-need-to-do-from-the-start-of-the-2020-autumn-term.

The Department also wants to make clear that schools have a duty to provide remote education for state funded, school age pupils who are unable to attend school due to COVID-19 in line with guidance and the law. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education gave a Direction which places an express legal duty on schools to provide remote education in these circumstances which has been in effect since 22 October 2020.

If it has been confirmed by their doctor that a pupil is clinically extremely vulnerable, they are currently advised not to attend school. In these situations, the Department expects schools to be able to offer clinically extremely vulnerable children immediate access to remote education, in line with guidance and the law.

On 1 October 2020, the Department announced a further remote education support package, to help schools and FE colleges meet the remote education expectations set out in guidance. The support package includes access to the right technology to deliver remote education, peer to peer training and guidance on how to use this effectively in the short and long term, and practical tools, good practice guidance and school-led webinars to support effective delivery of the curriculum.

Schools will also be able to support disadvantaged children across all year groups who might be shielding at home on official or medical advice due to them, or a member of their household, being clinically extremely vulnerable. As part of over £195 million invested to support remote education and access to online social care, the Department is making over 340,000 laptops and tablets available this term to support disadvantaged children in Years 3 to 11 whose face to face education may be disrupted. This supplements over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers, which have already been delivered during the summer term. This represents an injection of over 500,000 laptops and tablets by the end of the year.

Schools will also be able to support disadvantaged pupils across all year groups who might be shielding at home on official or medical advice due to them or a member of their household being clinically extremely vulnerable.

The Department wants to ensure that all vulnerable children and young people, as far as possible, have access to the same remote education support and provision as their peers. The guidance sets out steps that schools should take to support vulnerable children or young people where they are having to self-isolate, including regular contact with that individual, contact with their social worker if they have one, checking whether they are able to access remote education, to support them access it, and to regularly check that they are doing so.

Low-income families of children and young people with disabilities or who are seriously ill who may require specialist software or hardware devices to support their needs can apply to the Family Fund. The Department has provided the Family Fund, with £37 million in the 2020-21 financial year, of which £10 million is specifically intended to help support home education needs.

Schools have continued to receive their core funding allocations throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. Following last year’s Spending Round, school budgets are rising by £2.6 billion in the 2020-21 financial year, £4.8 billion in 2021-22 and £7.1 billion in 2022-23, compared to the 2019-20 financial year. This includes an additional £780 million this year and £730 million next year for high needs – taking total high needs funding to over £8 billion. As stated in the Department’s guidance, schools should use their existing resources when making arrangements to support pupils this term.