Responding to the Government’s plans for all children and staff
to return to school as normal from September, Cllr Teresa
Heritage, Vice Chairman of the Local Government Association’s
Children and Young People Board, said:
“The Government’s guidance provides schools and councils with a
framework to reopen schools safely from September, but they will
now need the space and time to work locally to draw up detailed
plans.
“Councils want all children to return to school to continue with
their education and we also want to work with the Government,
education leaders and schools to make sure the national effort is
a success.
“It is therefore vitally important that the Department for
Education provides the reassurance that parents need to send
children back to school, and remains in dialogue with school
leaders to tackle outstanding issues, such as the provision of
home-to-school transport and sanctions for non-attendance, and
work with schools and parents to secure full attendance in
September.
“Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we have shown that by
working together we can achieve the best outcomes for our
communities. As we look to return to normal, councils want to
continue working closely with the Government and local partners
to address practical issues and to provide any necessary
resources.
“Councils can play a key role in the Government’s Test and Trace
programme and it is therefore important to give councils the
powers to manage outbreaks in schools if new COVID-19 clusters
emerge.”
