Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether furloughed teachers are permitted to offer private tuition.

Where employers receive public funding for staff costs, and that funding is continuing, we expect employers to use that money to continue to pay staff in the usual fashion, and correspondingly not furlough them. Schools will continue to receive their budgets as usual and will be able to continue to pay their staff, so we do not expect schools to furlough staff. It may be appropriate to furlough some staff if they are paid from private income streams which have stopped or reduced.

The Department has developed school workforce guidance on COVID-19, including guidance for schools on continuing to pay supply teachers and employment agencies with which they are engaged. The guidance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-school-closures/guidance-for-schools-about-temporarily-closing#supply-teachers-and-other-contingent-workers

Further details and information regarding when schools may be able to furlough staff are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care

HMRC has published guidance for those who wish to engage in other work while they are furloughed:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-could-be-covered-by-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme#while-youre-on-furlough.

These are rapidly developing circumstances. We continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.