Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria his Department used in its decision on the inclusion of (a) Microsoft, (b) Google and (c) other commonly used platforms in its guidance entitled Contingency framework: education and childcare settings, updated on 22 February 2021.

As of 24 February 2021, £5.4 million has been spent out of a programme budget of £14.23 million, leaving £8.83 million of remaining funding.

The primary reason for selecting the (a) Microsoft and (b) Google platforms was that they are free to use to the education sector, and both platforms include features and functionalities that are designed to support communication, collaboration and assessment.