Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) schools and (b) employment businesses that have continued paying contingent labour in the public sector during the covid-19 outbreak in line with the Cabinet Office guidance.

The Department has published detailed guidance on the support available for supply teachers and other contingent workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Schools, agencies, and staff should refer to section 11 of this guidance which sets out the approach we expect schools and agencies to take in paying contingent staff. This guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-school-closures/guidance-for-schools-about-temporarily-closing#supply-teachers-and-other-contingent-workers.

Schools report their overall financial spending on an annual basis. We are considering how and when such data should next be collected in the context of COVID-19.

As confirmed in our guidance on financial support for schools, schools will continue to receive their core funding allocations 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.