Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making more personal protective equipment available to teachers and other staff working in schools during the covid-19 outbreak; and what special provision is being made for staff working in SEN schools with vulnerable children.

The Department has worked closely with Public Health England (PHE) to develop guidance based on the ‘system of controls’ that are required in schools to effectively reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) where recommended is one element of the system of controls that schools are putting in place to reduce risks.

As the guidance outlines, most staff working in schools will not require PPE beyond what they would normally need for their work, even if they are not always able to maintain a distance of two metres from others.

If a child, young person or student already has routine intimate care needs that involve the use of PPE, the same PPE should continue to be used.

Additional PPE for COVID-19 is only required in a very limited number of scenarios:

• if an individual child, young person or student becomes ill with COVID-19 symptoms and only then if a distance of two metres cannot be maintained
• when performing aerosol generating procedures.

Depending on local arrangements, schools may be able to access PPE for their COVID-19 needs via their local authority or local resilience forum. The PPE portal can also be used by all special school settings to access COVID-19 PPE.

Further guidance on the use of PPE, and how to source it, can be found in our guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings-including-the-use-of-personal-protective-equipment-ppe.