Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2020 to Question 76046 and the Answer of 8 October 2020 to Question 98997, what recent discussions he has had with school leaders on providing financial support for expenses incurred during the covid-19 outbreak on (a) additional cleaning, (b) signage, (c) supply staff and (d) other anticipated extra costs that are likely to have been incurred since September 2020.

Ministers and officials continue to engage regularly with school leaders and their representatives on a wide range of issues around COVID-19, including discussions in relation to costs faced by schools at this time.

Getting all children and young people back into school for the new academic year has been a national priority. To support schools with this, they 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 2019-20. As stated in our guidance, schools should use these existing resources when making arrangements for this term. The full guidance on the reopening of schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.