Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what advice he has received on reducing the risk of increasing covid-19 infection rates when schools reopen; and what the key recommendations of that advice were.

The Department continues to work closely with other Government departments throughout its response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health and Social Care, as well as stakeholders across the sector. We ensure that our policy is based on the latest scientific and medical advice, and we continue to develop comprehensive guidance based on the PHE-endorsed ‘system of controls’ and to understand the impact and effectiveness of these measures on staff, pupils and parents.

As new evidence or data emerges, the Department updates its advice accordingly to ensure that all our schools have the right safety measures in place. On 22 February 2021, we updated our guidance to support the full opening to education from 8 March, which includes updated advice on face coverings. The guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/964351/Schools_coronavirus_operational_guidance.pdf.

We know that the predominant new variant of COVID-19 is more transmissible. PHE advice remains that the way to control this virus is with the ‘system of controls’, even with the current new variants. The ‘system of controls’ measures outlined in our guidance create an environment for children and staff where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced. Schools need to continue to implement these controls to the fullest extent possible.

While it is not possible to ensure a totally risk-free environment, there is no evidence that children transmit the disease any more than adults. The Department recently published 'Evidence summary: COVID-19 - children, young people and education settings', which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/963639/DfE_Evidence_summary_COVID-19_-_children__young_people_and_education_settings.pdf.

Based on the recent Office for National Statistics data, the risks to education staff are similar to those for most other occupations. This data can be found at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19infectionsinthecommunityinengland/characteristicsofpeopletestingpositiveforcovid19inengland22february2021.

The Department will continue to keep our guidance and advice to schools under review to help ensure they remain as safe as possible.