Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that guidance issued by his Department in relation to covid-19 is (a) accessible by children and young people and (b) communicated to children and young people.

Public Health England (PHE) has worked with members of the National Health Service Youth Forum and ‘I Will’ Ambassadors to create COVID-19 guidance that is more accessible for young people. PHE has tailored guidance by adapting the advice, resources and language to be more relevant to young people aged 11-19 years. The published information includes advice on social distancing, shielding, looking after your wellbeing and the benefits of youth social action. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://riseabove.org.uk/article/stayhomefeelgood/

PHE has also published an ‘easy read’ version of the shielding guidance so that anyone with more limited reading skills can access online or in printed format.