Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support schools remaining open for vulnerable children and children whose parents are key workers during (a) the Easter holidays and (b) bank holidays.

Schools will continue to receive their budgets for the coming year, as usual, regardless of any periods of partial or complete closure. This will ensure that they are able to continue to pay their staff and meet their other regular financial commitments, as we move through these extraordinary times.

The Department recognises that schools may face additional costs as a result of COVID-19. We have put in place a new process to reimburse schools for exceptional costs they may be facing. This includes support for pupils who are eligible for free school meals but cannot attend school and are not covered by the national voucher scheme, and additional premises costs for schools that remain open through the Easter holidays.

The scheme will give schools the reassurances they need to enable them to concentrate on their vital role in supporting the nation through this crisis. Details of the scheme were published on 7 April and are available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools/school-funding-exceptional-costs-associated-with-coronavirus-covid-19-for-the-period-march-to-july-2020.