Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many laptops were (a) requested by and (b) provided to schools in Leicester East during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Department has invested over £195 million to support remote education and access to online social care, delivering over 220,000 laptops and tablets during the summer term for disadvantaged children who would not otherwise have access to a digital device.

The Department has published data about the delivery of laptops and tablets, in the summer term. The data includes delivery data for Leicester local authorities and trusts and can be viewed at: 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.

We are now supplementing this support by making available 340,000 additional laptops and tablets in the event of face-to-face schooling is disrupted as a result of COVID-19 restrictions and children become reliant on remote education. Since September over 100,000 of these have already been delivered to schools. More information is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/929064/Ad-hoc_stats_note_shipped_data_231020_FINAL.pdf.

This represents an injection of over half a million laptops and tablets by the end of the year.

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