Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training and support has been put in place for (a) school staff and (b) volunteers to provide Lateral Flow Device testing.

Together with the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS Test and Trace, we have provided, and continue to provide, extensive support to help with testing. We have:

• Published guidance materials and ‘how to’ handbooks
• Run webinars
• Provided an online training package
• Established a dedicated DfE Helpline
• Provided leadership support to manage a test site alongside delivering education with guidance on logistics, strategic planning and the practicalities of delivering mass testing
• Clinical support, for children and young people whose physical and health needs prevent them from administering their own test, and where parents existing school staff cannot assist

All schools have access to commercial routes for hiring temporary, non-clinical workers, via a range of existing frameworks.

1,500 military personnel have been committed to supporting schools and colleges and deployments have already begun where these have been requested.

Schools will also receive financial support. A total of £78 million has been made available to meet the costs of testing and payments will be made to schools retrospectively.