Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has issued during the covid-19 outbreak on the provision of informal childcare by (a) people who are not in the stringent social distancing category and (b) people over 70 years of age without underlying health problems.

We have issued guidance on formal childcare which can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures.

Informal childcare can be provided where the person undertaking the childcare lives as part of the same household as the parents or carers, in line with the government's guidance on staying alert and safe (social distancing) for COVID-19:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing.

The following government guidance on shielding and protecting extremely vulnerable persons should also be taken into consideration:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19.

Frequently asked questions have also been published on what people can and cannot do during COVID-19:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do.