Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many CO2 monitors have been provided to publicly-funded education settings, as recommended in the Government’s Schools Covid-19 Operational Guidance, as of 18 January 2022.
The department has provided CO2 monitors to state-funded education providers, including early years, schools, and further education (FE) colleges, backed by £25 million in government funding.
Over 99% of eligible maintained schools, FE colleges, and the majority of early years providers have now received a CO2 monitor, with over 353,000 delivered. Special schools and alternative provision were prioritised to receive their monitors first, given their higher-than-average numbers of vulnerable pupils. Final deliveries are due to made during February.
Applications for air cleaning units from all providers were assessed based on need, using the eligibility criteria we have set out in guidance. Please note that applications are now closed.
In total, 1,265 settings that applied for Department for Education funded air cleaning units were eligible for air cleaning units. This mirrors published summary findings from the department’s survey of the use of CO2 monitors, which show that only 3% of providers using CO2 monitors reported sustained high carbon dioxide readings that could not otherwise be addressed. These findings are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/co2-monitor-survey-and-applications-for-air-cleaning-units.
The total number of air cleaning units that providers have applied for was just over 8,000. Up to an additional 1,000 units have now been ordered, bringing the total number of units available up to 9,000, allowing all eligible applications to be fulfilled. Those providers who applied but will not receive units did not meet the eligibility criteria set out in our guidance.
The eligibility criteria included: