Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to
publish scientific evidence which (1) ensures the re-opening
schools on 1 June will be safe for pupils, staff and parents, and
(2) includes the impact on the (a) national, and (b) regional,
reproduction rates (R number) of COVID-19.
The Question was considered in a Virtual Proceeding via video
call.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education and Department for International Trade () (Con)
My Lords, the first two batches of SAGE papers were released on
20 March and 5 May. Further batches will be released shortly.
From the week commencing 1 June, we hope to welcome back more
children to early years, schools and further education, provided
that the Government’s five key tests justify the changes at that
time.
(Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply, but I have to say
that it is somewhat vague. This is National Thank a Teacher Day:
a national campaign to record our gratitude to teachers and
school support staff. This year, it also embraces the millions of
parents and carers thrust into the role of temporary teachers
during school closures. The Minister will have seen today that
various local authorities across England are now advising schools
in their area not to open. With Public Health England having said
that R values vary across different regions, it is difficult to
understand the logic of the Government’s decision that schools
should reopen nationwide on 1 June. Will the Minister reveal to
noble Lords what the Government’s scientific evidence says about
reopening schools in communities which have an R value that is
closer to 1 than the average?
I join the noble Lord in thanking all of our teachers and draw
attention to the fact that 80% of education settings are open for
vulnerable children and the children of critical workers. I
applaud their hard work. The R rate is not broken down regionally
and is not published in that form. It is a UK-wide estimate range
which is published each week. The individual modelling groups
include epidemiological information on the intensive care unit
rate of admissions, the death rate and the rate of hospital
admissions. It is an average value that can vary across
communities, but it is not published on a regional basis.
(Con)
My Lords, in order to assist local authorities that are reluctant
to reopen schools, will my noble friend consider publishing the
Government’s assessment of the effects of a prolonged school
lockdown on the emotional, educational and economic chances of
disadvantaged children?
My Lords, it is obvious that the good and protective factor that
a school provides to children cannot be replaced. I assure my
noble friend that in making this decision, consideration was
given to the future education and social outcomes for children,
alongside the health and epidemiological information and data. We
are deeply concerned about the effect of continued school
closures, particularly on disadvantaged pupils, and are looking
at a range of interventions to help them catch up.
(LD)
My Lords, did the Minister agree with the Government’s Deputy
Chief Scientific Adviser when she added another condition, saying
that Ministers have been told that changes to lockdown would
require an effective system for tracing and isolating to be in
place? She went on to say that changes should be based on
observed levels of infection, not a fixed date. How does this
affect schools?
When the Government announced the five tests to be satisfied to
plan for reopening on 1 June, we also included the enabling
programmes mentioned in the road map. This includes the
contact-tracing system. Testing has been ramped up, with a view
to being able to introduce a “track and trace” system. This is in
accordance with the scientific advice we have.
(Lab)
My Lords, I refer the House to my entry in the register of
interests in relation to the National Education Union. Speaking
in another place on 13 May, the Secretary of State said he was
happy to share all advice received from SAGE. The National
Education Union has analysed the SAGE evidence and papers
available on GOV.UK. Most of the evidence explicitly relating to
children and education—80% of it; nine out of 11 papers—is
unpublished. SAGE has not published any evidence for over a week,
at a time when critical decisions are being taken, and there is
no record of SAGE papers for the last month, published or
unpublished. Will the Minister urge the Government to expedite
the publication of all scientific advice and evidence, in
particular relating to “test, track, trace and isolate”, to try
to build confidence among the public, parents and the education
workforce in how schools could open to more children and students
safely, bearing in mind that, as she said, schools are generally
open for vulnerable children and the children of key workers and
that teachers not in schools are at present teaching their pupils
both online and through a variety of means?
My Lords, the Secretary of State outlined that the evidence will
be published. As I have said, the latest updates from SAGE have
been published; the latest was on 5 May. We are committed to
transparency and enabling access to the evidence on which we
rely. On that evidence, Public Health England’s guidance to us is
that there can be a hierarchy of controls in schools, beginning
with nobody symptomatic being in schools. Once those controls are
in place, we can substantially reduce the risk of transmission in
education settings.
(CB)
My Lords, Germany closed its schools within three weeks of its
first case being identified. This and its very early “test, trace
and isolate” strategy appear to account for its remarkable
success in controlling deaths from Covid. Does the Minister agree
that schools should reopen only in areas with a capacity to test,
trace and isolate absolutely fully across the community, so that
if a child in a school is identified as having Covid, the school
could close for 14 days, then reopen and press on with its
wonderful work?
My Lords, we are seeking to learn from the experience of other
countries but this is a disease and it is affecting populations
in different ways so we will be introducing a track, trace and
test system in the UK that is specific to our community and to
the NHS. Indeed, if any child or staff member becomes symptomatic
they are to go home and isolate for seven days, and they and
their families will be able to get a test. If that proves
positive then, with the reduced class sizes of 15 who are not
intermingling in the school, or at least not intermingling as
much as possible, the disease can be contained. If there is an
outbreak within a particular setting, the Public Health England
local health planning scheme will be advising schools on that
issue.
My Lords, as with many schools, Church of England schools have
remained open during the lockdown for the children of key workers
and vulnerable children. Our teachers are working extremely hard
to provide educational and pastoral support to our students at
this time of unprecedented challenge. Can the Minister confirm
whether school leaders will be granted the discretion to reopen
at a pace dictated by their local circumstances and context,
considering the significant mental, spiritual, physical and
social impact that the current situation is having on children,
especially those from the most disadvantaged and vulnerable
families?
My Lords, school leaders, teachers and support staff are indeed
concerned about the education of their children and have been
undertaking risk assessments in relation to whether vulnerable
children are better off at home or in a school setting. We are of
course aware that each school building, as well as each cohort of
students, is different, so in the current plans we have enabled
head teachers and school leaders to have the discretion to
include a child that they view as vulnerable who might not be in
the categories that the Government have outlined, and indeed it
is they who will be doing the risk assessments of their
buildings. We trust those professionals to do this job, relying
on the guidance that we have given them. Away from the headlines,
many teachers, head teachers and support staff are planning in
anticipation of being able to reopen on 1 June should the five
tests be satisfied.
(Con)
Will my noble friend confirm that the Government will issue some
guidance next week on how and when boarding school pupils may
safely return to school, on permitting boarding schools to
quarantine themselves—that is, running quarantine facilities for
pupils who are returning from overseas—and to cover the measures
that are being taken to avoid visa delays for overseas pupils?
My Lords, I have been in touch over this period directly with the
head of the Boarding Schools’ Association to talk about their
specific issues. We will shortly be issuing guidance to them,
particularly in relation to year 6 international boarders. At
such a time as international travel resumes, we will of course
expect them to abide by the guidance that is in place in relation
to self-isolation or quarantine, depending on what is in force at
that time. Obviously we will be advising them on what constitutes
a household or isolation of a household for those purposes. The
guidance will be out shortly.
(Lab)
The Science and Technology Committee of your Lordships’ House
heard yesterday in its evidence session from the science
community that there is not yet sufficient scientific evidence
about the transmission rate of COVID-19 by children, many of whom
are asymptomatic, to adults, including teachers. The reliance
that the Government are putting on the test, trace and isolate
system means that it must be reliable, but it rather begs the
question whether they are satisfied with the scientific advice
that they are getting on the infectivity of children. And why is
the R number not published regionally if the test, trace and
isolate system is showing that action will have to happen
regionally?
My Lords, this is a new virus and the scientific understanding of
it is developing. The current understanding is that there is a
high degree of confidence that the severity of the disease in
children is lower and there is moderate to high confidence that
the susceptibility to clinical disease of children up to the age
of 11 to 13 is lower than for adults. Hence, this is forming the
basis, along with Public Health England guidance on the hierarchy
of controls in schools, of the plans to reopen schools in the
week of 1 June, assuming that the five tests are satisfied at
that time.
(Non-Afl)
Every school can have an elected trade union health and safety
workplace representative with statutory powers to carry out risk
assessments. How many have done so?
My Lords, I am not aware of how many health and safety officers
have performed such risk assessments, but I will seek to obtain
the information for the noble Lord. It is the responsibility of
school leaders to carry out those kinds of risk assessments in
the course of planning to reopen on 1 June.
(Con)
My Lords, I am pleased that my noble friend has emphasised the
number of schools and multi-academy organisations that say they
want to go back. I welcome the efforts of the teaching
professions over the past few weeks where schools have remained
open. However, is there a final date by which a decision has to
be taken, which should apply to all local authorities, as to
whether schools reopen on 1 June or some other date?
My Lords, this two- to three-week period is vital for schools to
plan for reopening, but the tracking of the disease in the
population will not be static during this period. My noble friend
is correct that there is a notice period in the road map by which
the Government will tell schools the position of the scientific
data at that point.
(Lab)
My Lords, of course I wish for schools to open, but I was in a
meeting yesterday where I met the UN Secretary-General’s special
envoy on Covid-19. He emphasised that the seriousness of this
virus cannot be underestimated, nor can its uncertainty. He said
that we should have “a comprehensive defence everywhere”. Can the
Government guarantee that every school that opens will have a
full operational defence plan that protects staff and children?
My Lords, I am grateful for the noble Baroness’s acknowledgement
that the population is having to deal with a time of great
uncertainty around the disease. The department has published
detailed guidance, including a planning framework for schools to
be able to reopen. If they enact the hierarchy of controls when
they reopen we can substantially reduce transmission of the
disease in those settings.
