Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many devices for remote learning were provided in 2020 to (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in (i) Camberwell and Peckham and (ii) Southwark; and what types of devices have been provided.

The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. As of Monday 8 February 2021, over 980,000 laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, trusts, local authorities and further education providers.

Laptops and tablets are owned by schools, academy trusts, local authorities or further education providers who can lend these to the children and young people who need them most, during the current COVID-19 restrictions. Device types include Microsoft Windows laptops, Microsoft Windows tablets, Google Chromebooks and Apple iPads. The specification of the devices can be viewed through the following link: https://get-help-with-tech.education.gov.uk/devices/device-specification.

The Government is providing this significant injection of devices on top of an estimated 2.9 million laptops and tablets already owned by schools before the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.

More information on the number of devices delivered to schools, trusts and local authorities, can be viewed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data. Figures by Parliamentary constituency are not available.

Where schools need additional devices, in order to support disadvantaged children, they should contact the Department for Education’s service team at: covid.technology@education.gov.uk. They should include the number of pupils in Years 3 to 13 who require support and an explanation of how they have gathered this evidence.