Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what enforcement steps his Department has taken against parents of clinically extremely vulnerable children who have not returned to school following the lifting of the shielding guidance for that group of children.

The department has not taken direct enforcement steps against parents of clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) children who have not returned to school following the UK Clinical Review Panel recommendation that no children and young people under the age of 18 should be considered CEV. Where a pupil is not regularly attending, schools and local authorities are expected to discuss the reasons behind the child’s absence with their parents and agree a plan to help them return to regular and consistent education. Schools and local authorities have a range of measures that they can use to improve attendance including parenting orders, parenting contracts, and fixed penalty notices. The use of these measures is determined locally as schools and local authorities are best placed to understand the individual circumstances of each case.

Children and young people previously considered CEV should attend school and should follow the same COVID-19 guidance as the rest of the population. However, if advised to isolate or reduce their social contact by their specialist, due to the nature of their medical condition or treatment they should continue to follow the advice of their specialist.

Schools continue to be able to grant leaves of absence for pupils subject to the normal rules and should consider all applications for leave of absence on an individual basis, taking into account the specific facts and circumstances, and relevant background context behind the request.