Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the scientific evidence supporting the restrictions on overnight educational stays at outdoor educational residential centres during the covid-19 outbreak.

Evidence from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies supports that the main risk of transmission of COVID-19 is through people having close contacts with others, especially those outside their household. They have stated that the most effective method to tackle this is to maintain social distancing to break the chains of transmission. By closing overnight settings, such as residential camps, we are reducing all settings where people are able to mix and therefore transmit the virus. The new variant, which is up to 70% more transmissible, means that this requirement to limit social interaction is more urgent.