Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Covid-19 Lockdown: Safety of Staff

Monday 18 January 2021 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Minister prioritizes safety of children, workforce, and families during the lockdown.
  • Government updates guidance for specific settings to ensure safety and security.
  • Minister seeks rapid updated public health advice on daily contact testing in schools.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Sarah Jones Lab Croydon West
Education Children & Families
Context

The MP is concerned about the safety of staff working at various educational facilities during a recent lockdown.

Question

What steps he is taking to help ensure the safety of staff at early years settings, special schools and alternative provision during the covid-19 lockdown announced in January 2021?

Answer from Vicky Ford

Ensuring the safety of children, the workforce and families is our overriding priority. The early years and schools workforce are classed as essential workers for the purposes of accessing testing, and we continue to update our guidance to help specific settings provide a safe and secure environment for children and staff.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not specify concrete steps or commitments beyond general priority statement

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Q2 Clive Lewis Lab Norwich South
NHS
Context

The MP criticises the use of unapproved rapid tests on students, expressing concern about children's health and safety.

Question

Will the Minister confirm that no tests are being done on our children that have not met with regulatory approval, and will the Government commit to putting the health and safety of children first?

Answer from Vicky Ford

We have added NHS Test and Trace and Public Health England, and we have asked them to provide rapid updated public health advice on daily contact covid testing in schools. This is in the context of the current prevalence of the virus and the high transmission rates.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not confirm regulatory approval or commit to prioritising child safety

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Q3 Sarah Jones Lab Croydon West
NHS Education
Context

The MP is concerned about the safety of pupils and staff in nurseries due to lack of clear scientific evidence provided by the Government.

Question

Does the Minister agree that this situation is unacceptable and that, at the very least, they deserve to see the clear detailed scientific evidence and advice that the Government have received about the safety of early years settings?

Answer from Vicky Ford

All the advice that we have been given has been made public. There are three reasons why we have kept early years settings open and they are all important. Early education gives the child communication and social skills that set them up for life. You cannot teach a small child online, and they cannot get those months back. Our public health advice remains that younger children play a lower role in community transmission, and the evidence at the moment is that the confirmed cases of covid among the very youngest children are the lowest of all age groups.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not agree with unacceptability or provide clear scientific evidence

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