Helping schools have healthy school environments with good ventilation is a priority for the Department. Letting fresh air into indoor spaces can help remove air that contains virus particles and other airborne contaminants and is important in reducing the spread of airborne infections, including COVID-19 and flu. Good ventilation is also associated with improved alertness and concentration.

Over the last two years, the Department has provided CO₂ monitors to every state-funded school in England to help identify poorly ventilated spaces across their estates and help manage the need for ventilation and thermal comfort. Feedback suggests that, in most settings, existing ventilation measures are sufficient. For the very few teaching spaces where maintaining good ventilation is not possible, the Department has supplied HEPA air cleaning units. All eligible applications received during the previous roll out have been fulfilled and we are current working through this year’s applications. Air cleaning units are not a substitute for ventilation and are not necessary in spaces that are adequately ventilated.

The Department has published guidance in the Building Bulletin 101 (BB101), which provides guidelines on indoor and outdoor air quality in new and refurbished schools: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings. BB101 guidance promotes best practice in controlling pollutants and setting maximum standards for levels of pollutants in indoors.

The department is committed to pupils with medical conditions being properly supported at school so that they have full access to education.

The Children and Families Act 2014 introduced a new duty on schools to support pupils with all medical conditions. The department published statutory guidance on this for schools, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.

The guidance does not specify which medical conditions should be supported in schools. Instead, it focuses on how to meet the needs of each individual child and how their medical condition impacts on school life.

Schools also have duties under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments and not to discriminate against disabled children, including those with certain long-term health conditions, in relation to their access to education and associated services. Schools must make reasonable adjustments to their practices, procedures, and policies to ensure that they are not putting those with certain long-term health problems at a substantial disadvantage.

There is extensive evidence that the absolute risk of severe disease from COVID-19 to nearly all children remains low. Most children in a clinical risk group aged 5 and above are now well protected after receiving their primary, and for those aged 12 and above, booster vaccination doses. As such, the most vulnerable are no longer at a substantially greater risk than the general population. They are advised to follow the same guidance as everyone else on staying safe and preventing the spread of COVID-19, as well as any further advice they may have received from their doctor. The most effective protection against severe disease from COVID-19 for everyone, including those at higher risk from COVID-19, is to get vaccinated.

Those aged 5 years and above in clinical risk groups are being offered an autumn booster of the COVID-19 vaccine. The autumn dose will optimise protection against severe COVID-19, specifically hospitalisation and death, over winter 2022/23.

The department continues to monitor the situation and is participating in cross-government contingency planning on the basis of Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) scenarios.

The department provided additional financial support to schools facing the most extreme challenges through the COVID-19 school workforce fund in the 2021 autumn term and again in the 2022 spring term. The department regularly assesses and monitors the workforce pressures on schools and our mitigations to support them and will continue to review workforce absence in the 2022 autumn term.

The department has frontloaded funding increases to rapidly get money to schools, so that in the 2022/23 financial year, the total core schools budget is increasing by £4 billion compared to the 2021/22 financial year. This is a 7% cash terms per pupil boost and will help schools meet the cost pressures they are facing.

Identifying priority groups for vaccinations are clinical decisions taken by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), informed by advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI). JCVI advised that the primary objective of the 2022 autumn booster programme is to augment immunity in those at higher risk from COVID-19 and thereby optimise protection against severe COVID-19, specifically hospitalisation and death, over winter 2022 to 2023.

Other school staff are currently not eligible to receive an autumn booster as part of this programme. However, staff who meet the central eligibility criteria are entitled to a free flu vaccination through the NHS, and schools can choose to provide flu vaccines for their staff through their occupational health services.

The Government is guided by advice from the independent expert Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on COVID-19 and flu vaccinations. The JCVI advises that the primary objective of the autumn booster vaccination programme is to increase immunity in those at higher risk from severe illness and offer protection against severe illness, hospitalisation and death in winter 2022/23.

Serious outcomes are disproportionately seen in older people or those with certain underlying health conditions. The JCVI advise that eligibility for the autumn programme should be towards those most vulnerable to such outcomes. Health and social care workers are included in the autumn campaign due to the high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and transmission to the clinically vulnerable individuals they care for. The JCVI’s advice is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jcvi-updated-statement-on-the-covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-autumn-2022/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation-jcvi-updated-statement-on-the-covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-autumn-2022

Schools should always create a healthy indoor environment for occupants. This includes keeping spaces ventilated to reduce the concentration of pathogens in the air, such as COVID-19, and to manage indoor temperatures.

In 2017, the department published ‘Building Bulletin 101’, guidance for school design on ventilation, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality. This includes the World Health Organisation’s air quality guidelines and Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 for indoor air quality. The full publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/ventilation-thermal-comfort-and-indoor-air-quality-in-schools.

When carrying out works to make building improvements, schools should use the environmental standards set out in the department's ‘Employer’s requirements Part A: General conditions’ guidance. The current version was updated recently and published in November 2021. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/output-specification-generic-design-brief-and-technical-annexes.

The department has produced the ‘Good estate management for schools’ guidance, located on GOV.UK. The guidance provides education providers with resources and guidance on managing the estate, including reducing water and energy usage. More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools/health-and-safety

In the 2021/22 academic year, the department provided over 386,000 CO2 monitors to state-funded education providers, including early years, schools, and further education providers, backed by £25 million in government funding. The monitors enable staff to identify areas where ventilation needs to be improved and provide reassurance that existing ventilation measures are working, helping balance the need for good ventilation with keeping classrooms warm.

In January 2022, the government committed to fulfil all eligible applications for air cleaning units to state-funded education providers for poorly ventilated teaching spaces where quick fixes to improve ventilation are not possible. The latest delivery figures can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/delivery-of-air-cleaning-units.

Maintaining adequate ventilation remains the responsibility of individual schools. The law says employers, including education and childcare providers, must make sure there is an adequate supply of fresh air in enclosed areas of the workplace. This has not changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Health and Safety Executive provides more information on this here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/ventilation/index.htm.

The COVID-19 workforce fund will provide financial support to eligible schools and colleges for costs incurred due to staff absences from 22 November 2021 until 8 April 2022.

Following an extension from February half term until Easter, the fund is planned to end on 8 April. The claims portal will open in the spring for absence costs incurred across the current duration of the fund.

As the hon. Gentleman will recognise, vaccines have never been compulsory for children. We want children to have vaccines, but they are optional and something that requires consent. We are continuing to support the vaccine programme, and the Secretary of State announced last week that we have accepted £8 million from NHS England to accelerate that in the schools pillar. The community pillar continues to be available to children in this age group.

Schools have continued to receive their budgets in full throughout the COVID-19 outbreak regardless of periods of full or partial closure.

In addition, the department has re-introduced the COVID-19 workforce fund to provide financial support to eligible schools and colleges for additional staff absence costs incurred from 22 November until the February spring half term in 2022. The fund is available to support schools and colleges facing the greatest staffing and funding pressures to continue to deliver face-to-face, high quality education to all pupils.

School funding remains one of the department’s key priorities, which is why this government continues to deliver year on year, real terms per pupil increases to school funding with the total core school budget increasing to £56.8 billion by 2024-25.

In 2022-23 alone core schools funding will increase by £4 billion compared to 2021-22, a 5% real terms per pupil boost. This will help schools rise to the challenges of COVID-19, increase teacher pay, and meet the cost of the Health and Social Care Levy, while continuing their work to raise attainment.

Local authority and school expenditure is published annually, with the latest available data being the 2020-21 financial year, and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure.

Please note that this publication does not include academies.

School level data (including academies) is available at the schools financial benchmarking website, with the latest available data being the 2020-21 financial year for local authority maintained schools and the 2019/20 academic year for academies (to be updated to the 2020/21 academic year in spring 2022): https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/Help/DataSources.

Schools have continued to receive their budgets in full throughout the COVID-19 outbreak regardless of periods of full or partial closure.

In addition, the department has re-introduced the COVID-19 workforce fund to provide financial support to eligible schools and colleges for additional staff absence costs incurred from 22 November until the February spring half term in 2022. The fund is available to support schools and colleges facing the greatest staffing and funding pressures to continue to deliver face-to-face, high quality education to all pupils.

School funding remains one of the department’s key priorities, which is why this government continues to deliver year on year, real terms per pupil increases to school funding with the total core school budget increasing to £56.8 billion by 2024-25.

In 2022-23 alone core schools funding will increase by £4 billion compared to 2021-22, a 5% real terms per pupil boost. This will help schools rise to the challenges of COVID-19, increase teacher pay, and meet the cost of the Health and Social Care Levy, while continuing their work to raise attainment.

Local authority and school expenditure is published annually, with the latest available data being the 2020-21 financial year, and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure.

Please note that this publication does not include academies.

School level data (including academies) is available at the schools financial benchmarking website, with the latest available data being the 2020-21 financial year for local authority maintained schools and the 2019/20 academic year for academies (to be updated to the 2020/21 academic year in spring 2022): https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/Help/DataSources.

Schools have continued to receive their budgets in full throughout the COVID-19 outbreak regardless of periods of full or partial closure.

In addition, the department has re-introduced the COVID-19 workforce fund to provide financial support to eligible schools and colleges for additional staff absence costs incurred from 22 November until the February spring half term in 2022. The fund is available to support schools and colleges facing the greatest staffing and funding pressures to continue to deliver face-to-face, high quality education to all pupils.

School funding remains one of the department’s key priorities, which is why this government continues to deliver year on year, real terms per pupil increases to school funding with the total core school budget increasing to £56.8 billion by 2024-25.

In 2022-23 alone core schools funding will increase by £4 billion compared to 2021-22, a 5% real terms per pupil boost. This will help schools rise to the challenges of COVID-19, increase teacher pay, and meet the cost of the Health and Social Care Levy, while continuing their work to raise attainment.

Local authority and school expenditure is published annually, with the latest available data being the 2020-21 financial year, and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure.

Please note that this publication does not include academies.

School level data (including academies) is available at the schools financial benchmarking website, with the latest available data being the 2020-21 financial year for local authority maintained schools and the 2019/20 academic year for academies (to be updated to the 2020/21 academic year in spring 2022): https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/Help/DataSources.

The department has had one round of claims to the COVID-19 workforce fund to date, covering the costs of staff absences experienced between 1 November and 31 December 2020. The claims window closed on 31 March 2021. We received claims from 974 schools and made payments to 902 schools by the end of June 2021.

All schools that met the conditions set out in the guidance were paid. Claims were received at school level and could cover both teacher and support staff absences experienced across the eligibility period.

The COVID-19 workforce fund has been reintroduced to cover the costs of staff absences experienced between 22 November 2021 and 18 February 2022.

The claims portal for this period will open in the spring.

The department has had one round of claims to the COVID-19 workforce fund to date, covering the costs of staff absences experienced between 1 November and 31 December 2020. The claims window closed on 31 March 2021. We received claims from 974 schools and made payments to 902 schools by the end of June 2021.

All schools that met the conditions set out in the guidance were paid. Claims were received at school level and could cover both teacher and support staff absences experienced across the eligibility period.

The COVID-19 workforce fund has been reintroduced to cover the costs of staff absences experienced between 22 November 2021 and 18 February 2022.

The claims portal for this period will open in the spring.

The department has had one round of claims to the COVID-19 workforce fund to date, covering the costs of staff absences experienced between 1 November and 31 December 2020. The claims window closed on 31 March 2021. We received claims from 974 schools and made payments to 902 schools by the end of June 2021.

All schools that met the conditions set out in the guidance were paid. Claims were received at school level and could cover both teacher and support staff absences experienced across the eligibility period.

The COVID-19 workforce fund has been reintroduced to cover the costs of staff absences experienced between 22 November 2021 and 18 February 2022.

The claims portal for this period will open in the spring.

The department has had one round of claims to the COVID-19 workforce fund to date, covering the costs of staff absences experienced between 1 November and 31 December 2020. The claims window closed on 31 March 2021. We received claims from 974 schools and made payments to 902 schools by the end of June 2021.

All schools that met the conditions set out in the guidance were paid. Claims were received at school level and could cover both teacher and support staff absences experienced across the eligibility period.

The COVID-19 workforce fund has been reintroduced to cover the costs of staff absences experienced between 22 November 2021 and 18 February 2022.

The claims portal for this period will open in the spring.

The department has had one round of claims to the COVID-19 workforce fund to date, covering the costs of staff absences experienced between 1 November and 31 December 2020. The claims window closed on 31 March 2021. We received claims from 974 schools and made payments to 902 schools by the end of June 2021.

All schools that met the conditions set out in the guidance were paid. Claims were received at school level and could cover both teacher and support staff absences experienced across the eligibility period.

The COVID-19 workforce fund has been reintroduced to cover the costs of staff absences experienced between 22 November 2021 and 18 February 2022.

The claims portal for this period will open in the spring.

The department has had one round of claims to the COVID-19 workforce fund to date, covering the costs of staff absences experienced between 1 November and 31 December 2020. The claims window closed on 31 March 2021. We received claims from 974 schools and made payments to 902 schools by the end of June 2021.

All schools that met the conditions set out in the guidance were paid. Claims were received at school level and could cover both teacher and support staff absences experienced across the eligibility period.

The COVID-19 workforce fund has been reintroduced to cover the costs of staff absences experienced between 22 November 2021 and 18 February 2022.

The claims portal for this period will open in the spring.

The department has had one round of claims to the COVID-19 workforce fund to date, covering the costs of staff absences experienced between 1 November and 31 December 2020. The claims window closed on 31 March 2021. We received claims from 974 schools and made payments to 902 schools by the end of June 2021.

All schools that met the conditions set out in the guidance were paid. Claims were received at school level and could cover both teacher and support staff absences experienced across the eligibility period.

The COVID-19 workforce fund has been reintroduced to cover the costs of staff absences experienced between 22 November 2021 and 18 February 2022.

The claims portal for this period will open in the spring.

The department regularly reviews workforce absence data and the latest data as of 6 January shows that absence levels due to COVID-19 reasons are 4.9% for teachers and leaders and 5.0% for teaching assistants and other staff in state funded schools.

Alongside this, the department reviews data, analysis, and advice from a number of different sources including the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), and the Office for National Statistics. We also work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and UKHSA as well as local authorities and Directors of Public Health to inform our planning and response.

The Omicron variant identified in South Africa has a clear growth advantage over Delta (the previous dominant variant) and is now predominant in all regions of England. Initial data suggests Omicron evades some immune protection from vaccines and prior infection and is more transmissible. This will inevitably lead to higher than usual school workforce absence and the department is monitoring the situation closely.

School leaders are best placed to determine the workforce required to meet the needs of their pupils. In the case of staff absence, in the first instance schools should follow their usual process for covering absences. We have reintroduced the COVID-19 workforce fund in response to higher than normal absence rates and feedback from the sector that funding may be a barrier to managing absence for a small number of schools and colleges.

The department has provided support to schools to help them to continue providing on-site education despite the operational difficulties presented by the current high case rates. This includes case studies on the flexible deployment of staff, the reintroduction of the COVID-19 workforce fund to provide financial support to eligible schools and colleges for absence costs incurred from 22 November until spring half-term, announcing a call for ex teachers to return to the classroom to cover absences and the sharing of case studies on flexible learning approaches.

The department will continue to analyse its response to COVID-19, developing activities that put the department in a strong position to support pupils and students to thrive as well as preparing to respond to future challenges that the department may face.

Vaccines remain an effective measure against COVID-19. As of 11 January, 90.4% of all adults and children over 12 years old in England have received at least one dose of a vaccine, and 83% have received a second dose. 62.3% have received a booster (or third dose). Vaccines have saved thousands of lives and the department encourages all eligible staff to take up the offer of a vaccine and booster where possible.