Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that students are able to retrieve their possessions from university accommodation during the covid-19 outbreak.

As my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have both made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.

The government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy published on 11 May sets out a cautious roadmap to ease existing measures in a safe and measured way. The strategy allows for certain necessary travel if people take precautions.

In light of this, we are developing guidance on students travelling to and from student accommodation and this will be published as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, we have made clear that we do not believe that students should be fined for failing to collect their belongings if this is the case because they are complying with the government’s travel advice.