Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the veracity of World Health Organisation guidance on staff aged over-60 or vulnerable that medical grade masks should be provided for clinically vulnerable staff in schools and colleges.

The Department’s priority has been to get pupils and staff back to schools and colleges safely, which is why at each stage of our response to the COVID-19 outbreak we have listened to the latest medical and scientific advice. Staff who are clinically vulnerable whilst in schools and colleges should follow the sector specific measures in the Department’s guidance to minimise the risks of transmission. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools and here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision/what-fe-colleges-and-providers-will-need-to-do-from-the-start-of-the-2020-autumn-term.

If staff with significant cumulative risk factors are concerned, we recommend that schools and colleges discuss their concerns and provide reassurance of the measures they are putting in place to reduce the risk in their school or college. School and college leaders should try as far as practically possible to accommodate additional measures where appropriate.

The majority of staff in education settings will not require personal protective equipment (PPE) beyond what they would normally need for their work. PPE is only needed in a very small number of cases, which are set out clearly in the Department’s guidance on safe working in education, childcare and children’s social care settings: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings-including-the-use-of-personal-protective-equipment-ppe.