Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of the 230,000 laptops distributed to students during the covid-19 outbreak have been returned to his Department.

The Department has delivered over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers to local authorities and academy trusts for children who would not otherwise have access, as part of over £100 million invested to support remote education and access to online social care while schools were closed to the majority of pupils.

The Department has published data about the delivery of devices which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/892510/Devices_and_4G_wireless_routers_data_ad_hoc_stats.pdf.

The devices were an injection of support to help local authorities and academy trusts to provide access to education and social care during the COVID-19 outbreak. Local authorities and academy trusts are responsible for distributing the devices and are best placed to know which children and young people need access to a device.

Devices are owned by the local authority, academy trust or school that received them. They retain ownership of the devices when schools fully reopen and can continue to use them to benefit the children and young people who need them most, including those who may face disruption to face-to-face education in the event of future local COVID-19 restrictions.