Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many laptops have been distributed to children learning from home in each local authority; and what the average time taken was to distribute those laptops.

The Government has provided laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in year 10, receiving support from a social worker, or are a care leaver. Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and children in year 10 do not have internet connections, the Government has also provided 4G wireless routers.

The Department has delivered laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers to local authorities and academy trusts based on the Department’s estimates of the number of eligible children that do not have access to a device. Local authorities and academy trusts are best placed to identify children and young people who need devices and prioritise their needs.

The Department has published information about how many laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers have been delivered to local authorities and academy trusts in total, which can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data. As of the end of June, over 202,000 laptops and tablets and over 47,000 4G wireless routers had been delivered to local authorities and academy trusts. It is taking, on average, 1.3 days from receipt of an order to the devices being dispatched to a local authority or academy trust.

The Department will be publishing data on devices delivered to each local authority and academy trust shortly.