Schools: Air Conditioning

(asked on 4th January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary schools in England have applied for an air purifier unit as part of the Government's commitment to provide 7000 of those units to schools.


Answered by
Robin Walker Portrait
Robin Walker
This question was answered on 17th January 2022

During the autumn term, the department provided CO2 monitors to all state-funded education providers, including early years, schools and further education colleges, backed by £25 million in government funding.

We have now delivered on our public commitment with over 353,000 monitors delivered in the autumn term. Feedback suggests that schools are finding the monitors helpful to manage ventilation and, in most schools, colleges and nurseries, existing ventilation measures are sufficient. There is no requirement from the department for providers to record readings or share these with the department.

Where an area of poor ventilation has been identified, settings should first look to implement simple measures like opening windows and doors. When CO2 monitors indicate good ventilation, there is no need to keep windows fully open at all times. Opening windows regularly for 10 minutes, or a small amount continuously, can still reduce the airborne risk from COVID-19 substantially compared to spaces with no fresh air. If the ventilation issue cannot be easily resolved, schools are advised to explore what remedial works are needed. It may be appropriate to consider the use of an air cleaning unit while the underlying issue is addressed. Air cleaning units are suggested as a possible interim measure to help minimise transmission risk but do not improve ventilation levels.

When used properly, air cleaning units can help reduce airborne contaminants in a poorly ventilated space, including viruses like COVID-19; they do not provide additional ventilation. Air cleaning units are not a substitute for ventilation and should never be used as a reason to reduce ventilation. They are not necessary in spaces that are adequately ventilated.

The department is also making up to 8,000 air cleaning units available for poorly ventilated teaching spaces in state-funded education providers, where quick fixes to improve ventilation are not possible.

Deliveries will start from this week to special educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision (AP) schools, colleges and nurseries. These were allocated in the first application round announced in November 2021.

The second round of applications was open until 9am on 17 January. All state funded schools, colleges and nurseries could apply.Special and AP providers that were not successful or did not apply in the first round were also eligible to apply in this round. All applications will be assessed against strict criteria and allocated to providers based on need. Schools, colleges and nurseries with successful applications will be contacted individually to arrange delivery, with deliveries expected from February 2022.

For those settings that were not eligible for funded units, the online marketplace provides a route to purchasing air cleaning units directly from suppliers at a suitable specification and competitive price. Further information is available here: https://s107t01-webapp-v2-01.azurewebsites.net/list/air-cleaning.

Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, we have emphasised the importance of ventilation and provided guidance to providers on ventilation requirements. In addition to our existing guidance on ventilation we have provided schools, colleges and nurseries with guidance on how to use the air cleaning units as well as how to order a unit via the marketplace. The application process has been communicated to providers via our Daily Bulletin and we continue to support providers with their queries via the Coronavirus Helpline.

Reticulating Splines