Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to issue guidance to nurseries, childminders and other early years education and childcare settings on making adjustments and improvements to (a) improve ventilation and (b) reduce the risk of covid-19 transmission in those settings during the 2022 summer holiday period.

The department has provided CO₂ monitors to state-funded education providers, including early years providers. All state-funded early years providers were eligible, including includes private, voluntary, and independent providers, and childminders who work together in groups of four or more and are registered as operating childcare on domestic premises.

The monitors enable staff to identify areas where ventilation needs to be improved and provide reassurance that existing ventilation measures are working, helping balance the need for good ventilation with keeping rooms warm.

Comprehensive advice on how to improve ventilation for education providers is available from the Health and Safety Executive.

From 1 April 2022, the government has withdrawn most pieces of specific COVID-19 guidance for education and childcare providers, although public health and emergency planning guidance for education and childcare settings is still available. If providers suspect an outbreak of respiratory infection, such as COVID-19, they should review and reinforce the baseline infection prevention and control measures they already have in place.