Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what efforts they will make to encourage schools in the independent sector to grant access to their premises and resources over the summer to pupils from state schools disadvantaged by school closures in place since March.

The government shares the concern about the impact of prolonged school closures on disadvantaged pupils and is committed to doing whatever we can to make sure no child, whatever their background, falls behind as a result of COVID-19.

The government has committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education and social care services, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers.

The government is providing over 200,000 laptops and tablets to vulnerable and disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. The government is also providing over 50,000 4G wireless routers to care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and disadvantaged children in year 10 who do not have internet connections.

The department has also partnered with BT to give 10,000 young people free access to BT Wi-Fi hotspots, who do not have access to good internet by other means.

We are considering, with a range of partner organisations what more is required to support all pupils make up for time spent out of school. This includes discussions with the Independent Schools Council to understand what offers of support might be available locally.