Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department plans to provide to schools for additional costs incurred when teaching staff are absent to receive covid-19 vaccines during school term time.

Matters relating to any absences by school staff, whether related to COVID-19 or not, are a matter for the individual’s employer.

To manage their staffing requirements, schools may need to alter the way in which they deploy their staff and use existing staff more flexibly, as set out in our guidance. These include making best use of teaching assistants, hosting initial teacher training, using volunteers, engaging supply staff using in-year allocated budget, and seeking support from the local authority or trust.

Schools will continue to receive their core funding allocations – as determined by the local authority for maintained schools and through the general annual grant for academies – for the 2021/22 financial year (April 2021 to March 2022 for maintained schools and until August 2022 for academies and non-maintained special schools). This will happen regardless of any periods of partial or complete closure and will ensure schools can continue to pay staff and meet other regular financial commitments.