Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the financial costs of securing (a) PPE, (b) cleaning costs and (c) staff replacements for early years providers delivering early education during the covid-19 outbreak.

Keeping children and staff safe is our utmost priority. The majority of early years staff in settings will not require PPE beyond what they would normally need for their work, and our early years guidance confirms what PPE should be used in the event a child becomes symptomatic while in a setting.

If an education or childcare setting cannot obtain the PPE they need they should approach their local authority.

Local authorities should support them to access PPE suppliers and available stock locally, including through coordinating the redistribution of available supplies between settings according to priority needs.

The department has undertaken surveys of providers about their finances throughout the pandemic. The latest report is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/945249/SCEYP_COVID-19_Wave2_Main_Report_171220.pdf. The next wave of the study is currently taking place and asks questions about the cost of PPE, cleaning and workforce. Findings from this wave of the study will be published in due course.