The comments made by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, on 1 January 2021.
The Government have finally seen sense and u-turned. All primary schools across London will be treated the same.
This is the right decision – and I want to thank education minister Nick Gibb for our constructive conversations over the past two days.
The comments made by Wes Streeting, the Shadow Minister for Schools, on 1 January 2021.
New year, same old story from Gavin Williamson and the Tories: dither and delay, creating added stress, chaos and confusion. Then an inevitable u-turn.
An avoidable mess if he’d listened: on school safety measures, mass testing and remote learning.
The statement made by Gavin Williamson, the Secretary of State for Education, in the House of Commons on 30 December 2020.
With permission, I would like to make a statement regarding our plans for bringing children back to school this academic term.
Dealing with this pandemic has always been an exercise in managing risk. Throughout, we have been adamant that the education of children is an absolute priority and that keeping schools open is uppermost in all our plans.
The magnificent efforts of all the leaders, teachers and staff in all our schools and colleges have ensured that settings are as safe and covid secure as possible, but we must always act swiftly when circumstances change. The evidence about the new covid variant and rising infection rates has required some immediate adjustment to our plans for the new term. This is, of course, a rapidly shifting situation, but some things remain constant. We continue to act to preserve lives and safeguard the national health service, and we continue to protect education by putting children first. Above all, our response is proportionate to the risk at hand and makes every use of the contingency framework that we put in place earlier this year.
The latest study we have from Public Health England is that covid infections among children are triggered by changes in the community rate. The study also says that the wider impact of school closures on children’s development would be significant. I am quite clear that we must continue to do all we can to keep children in school. Taking all those factors into account means that we have had to make a number of changes for the new term in order to help break chains of transmission and to assist with keeping all our children and education settings as safe as we can. The fact that we have managed to do that so successfully throughout the entire pandemic is due to the incredible dedication of all our teachers, leaders and support staff, and I know that the House will join me once more in thanking them for everything that they continue to do to keep children learning as safely as possible.
Accordingly, we will be opening the majority of primary schools as planned on Monday 4 January. We know how vital it is for our younger children to be in school for their education, wellbeing and wider development. In a small number of areas where the infection rates are highest, we will implement our existing contingency framework such that only vulnerable children and children of critical workers will attend face-to-face. We will publish that list of areas today on the gov.uk website.
I would like to emphasise that this is being used only as a last resort. This is not all tier 4 areas and the overwhelming majority of primary schools will open as planned on Monday. The areas will also be reviewed regularly, so that schools can reopen at the very earliest moment. Ongoing testing for primary school staff will follow later in January and we will be working to establish an ambitious testing programme, helping to break chains of transmission and reducing the need for self-isolation where students and staff test negative for the virus.
We have already announced our intention for a staggered return to education this term for secondary age pupils and those in colleges. Because the covid infection rate is particularly high among this age group, we will allow more time so that every school and college is able to fully roll out testing for all its pupils and staff. I would like to thank school leaders and staff for all their ongoing work in preparing that. This kind of mass testing will help to protect not just children and young people; it will benefit everyone in the community. It will break the chains of transmission that are making infection rates shoot up. That, in turn, will make it safer for more children to physically return to school.
All pupils in exam years are to return during the week beginning 11 January, with all secondary school and college students returning full time on 18 January. During the first week of term after 4 January, secondary schools and colleges will prepare to test as many staff and students as possible, and will be open only to vulnerable children and the children of key workers.
The 1,500 military personnel committed to supporting schools and colleges will remain on task, providing virtual training and advice on establishing the testing process, with teams on standby to provide in-person support if schools require it. Testing will then begin in earnest the following week, with those who are in exam years at the head of the queue. This is in preparation for the full return of all pupils in all year groups on 18 January in most areas. To allow this focus on the establishment of testing throughout the first week of term, exam year groups will continue to have lessons remotely, in line with what they would receive in class, and only vulnerable children and the children of critical workers will have face-to-face teaching.
As with primary schools, we will apply our existing contingency framework for education in areas of the country with very high rates of covid infection or transmission of the virus. This will require secondary schools and colleges to offer face-to-face education only to exam years, vulnerable children and the children of critical workers, with remote education for all other students if they are in one of the contingency framework areas. We are also asking universities to reduce the number of students who return to campus at the start of January, prioritising students who require practical learning to gain their professional qualifications. All university students should be offered two rapids tests on return to reduce the chance of covid being spread.
To support remote education and online learning during this period, the Government expect to deliver more than 50,000 devices to schools throughout the country on 4 January alone, and more than 100,000 altogether during the first week of term. That is in addition to the 560,000 devices that have already been delivered, as we continue to aim for a target of distributing more than 1 million devices for the children who need them most. The programme is now being extended to include students aged 16 to 19 in colleges and schools.
So often, we have had to close things down to try to beat this awful disease, but with schools our best line of attack is to keep them open, using the mass-testing tools that we now have available to ensure that children are able to continue to gain the benefit of a world-class education. As we continue to hear more encouraging news about the vaccine roll-out, I am more determined than ever that children will not have to pay the price for beating covid. I have spoken many times of my determination that we cannot let covid damage the life chances of an entire year of children and students. With these plans, which allow for rapid testing and the controlled return of schools, I am confident that we can minimise the latest health risks posed by the virus. I commend this statement to the House.
The letter sent from Kate Green, the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, to Gavin Williamson, the Secretary of State for Education, on 1 January 2021.
Dear Gavin
I am deeply concerned that your statement to the House of Commons yesterday did not provide pupils, parents, or education staff with the clarity and certainty that they need as they plan for the reopening of schools and colleges in January, and I am writing to ask you to provide this clarity as a matter of urgency.
There has been a consensus across Parliament that keeping schools open to all pupils should be a national priority, but it appears that the government have simply lost control of the pandemic, and children are now paying the price in the closure of their schools and disruption to their education . Yesterday, I asked you to publish in full the advice the government has received in relation to the reopening of schools in January, and I ask you again to do so. Parents and school staff deserve to know that the government is taking all possible measures to keep children learning and keep children and staff safe. Are you confident that the measures you announced yesterday will be sufficient to reduce the spread of the virus?
Your statement came only a matter of days before the parents of pupils across the country, including all primary school pupils, expected their children to return to school, but now hundreds of thousands of children will see their school close, with no clear support in place for pupils or parents, and no clear path to their reopening.
Given the huge uncertainty and concerns facing families and hardworking education staff across the country, I hope that you will answer these questions urgently.
Testing programme
Schools will be relieved that they have been given extra time to put arrangements in place for mass testing of pupils, but there remain concerns about the support they will receive to do this. Will additional funding to recruit temporary staff be available to all schools, on what basis will it be allocated, and will schools be expected to meet any or all of the cost from their own budgets?
Is it the government’s intention that the testing programme will be introduced in special schools, and if so, what arrangements will be put in place to meet any additional support needs they may have, including the provision of PPE and staff resources.
Can you confirm whether it is the government’s intention to roll out testing in primary schools in due course?
Primary schools
In Parliament yesterday, you said that the overwhelming majority of primary schools would open on 4 January, but in London alone there are over half a million children in areas where primary schools will not be opening as planned. Your Department has admitted the original list published was incorrect so can you immediately confirm how many primary schools across England will not be opening as planned, and how many pupils are affected by this?
In your statement, you said that primary schools would not reopen in “a small number of areas, where the infection rates are highest[.]” But many local leaders have reported concerns that schools in areas with the highest levels of transmission will still open normally. Can you outline clearly and transparently the set of criteria used to determine when schools should not open?
We cannot reach a point where schools are closed indefinitely, and I welcome the fact that closures will be reviewed on 18 January. However, I am concerned that there is no clear process or criteria in place for allowing these schools to reopen. Will you publish, as a matter of urgency, the specific circumstances in which schools will reopen during the new term?
Can you provide clarity for schools with mixed primary and secondary intakes? Will primary pupils attend those schools, while secondary students will not return until 11 or 18 January?
Did you consult school leaders and local government leaders before deciding which areas should be subject to contingency measures?
Has your decision on contingency measures, particularly in London, considered the extent to which pupils will live in one local authority area but attend school in another?
Nurseries
Your statement said nothing on what will happen for nurseries in tier 4 contingency areas where primary schools are closing. Can you confirm all nurseries can remain open under the new restrictions?
Secondary schools
Teachers and school leaders simply do not understand the situation for secondary schools in the first weeks of January, entirely because of the lack of clarity in your statement. This must be clarified as a matter of urgency so that schools and families can prepare. Will you therefore provide urgent answers to the following questions:
During the week commencing 4 January, will it only be pupils in exam years who receive remote learning?
If this will not be the case, can you confirm that no school will be found to have violated laws implemented by your Department requiring schools to provide remote learning to all pupils who are not in school? Will you be clarifying the situation to school leaders?
During the week commencing 11 January, will all pupils who are not in school, meaning those not in exam years, receive remote learning?
It is my understanding that the next review point for the contingency measures is 18 January, the same date secondary schools are due to reopen. However, your Department’s press release suggests that areas with secondary schools subject to the contingency framework will be published at the next review point. Can you confirm when secondary schools will be told if they will not have to reopen to all pupils, and can you guarantee that that parents and school staff will have adequate time to prepare for this?
Support for families
Parents across the country have received only a matter of days to prepare for their children not to return to school at the beginning of January, creating huge challenges for those who need to balance work and supporting their children. Can you urgently outline the support that will be made available to families whose children are not able to return to school in January?
Can you set out in detail what reassurance is available to families with a clinically extremely vulnerable household member that their children can return to school safely.
It is my understanding that parents can be furloughed if they are unable to work due to childcare commitments, but this is not something that the government have made sufficiently clear to parents. Can you clarify if this is the case, and work with employers and unions to make this clear to the parents who are affected?
While I appreciate that you have committed to an expansion of digital access to learners who are out of school, I am concerned that schools will not receive devices they have ordered promptly, and that not all disadvantaged children will receive the support that they need. Can you set out a clear timeline for schools to receive the devices they are entitled to, and confirm the number of disadvantaged pupils who will be eligible?
Universities
Students are due to start returning to university from this weekend. While I understand that government guidance will now ask fewer students to return to campuses in the first weeks of January, given that a clear majority of the country is now under tier 4 ‘stay at home’ restrictions, will you consider pausing the return of students to prevent further spread of infection?
Plans for exams
In your statement you confirmed that BTEC and vocation and technical exams taking place in January will go ahead but you have not set out any plans to ensure these exams can go ahead safely and fairly. This support must be provided as a matter of urgency.
What further steps are you putting in place to ensure summer GCSE and A-level exams can go ahead safely and fairly? I understand you are establishing a working group to consider lost learning but this is worryingly delayed, so can you tell me when the group will meet and when exactly it will report?
We have now had weeks of chaos and uncertainty for pupils, parents, and schools, which has been a direct result of this government’s mishandling. You have once again waited until the last possible moment to act, causing unnecessary worry and inconvenience to the hundreds of thousands of people who are affected by these changes.
This is my third letter asking you to clarify as a matter of urgency the details around the start of the spring term, the support that schools and families will receive and how children’s learning and wellbeing will be protected. It’s extremely disappointing you have not yet responded to my previous letters, and your statement yesterday did not provide the answers needed.
Families across the country deserve far better. At a minimum they deserve clarity about how many schools are affected, how these decisions were made, and when schools will be able to open again. I hope that you will urgently provide this clarification.
I look forward to your swift response.
Yours sincerely
Kate Green MP
The comments made by Kate Green, the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, on 1 January 2021.
This is yet another government u-turn creating chaos for parents just two days before the start of term. Gavin Williamson’s incompetent handling of the return of schools and colleges is creating huge stress for parents, pupils, and school and college staff and damaging children’s education.
The government failed to get mass testing for schools and colleges in place when Labour called for it and they have failed to develop credible plans for remote learning when pupils cannot be in school.
This u-turn was needed to provide consistency in London. However, Gavin Williamson must still clarify why some schools in tier 4 are closing and what the criteria for reopening will be. School and college staff urgently need reassurance that the government is putting proper support in place to make all schools Covid secure work environments.
The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 1 January 2021.
Proud that the UK is taking over the 2021 Presidency of the G7 today. Hosting both the G7 Summit and
COP26 will make this a hugely important year for Global Britain and I look forward to welcoming our friends and allies as we beat COVID and build back better from the pandemic.
The comments made by Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, on 1 January 2021.
As independent Ireland takes up her seat on the UN Security Council today, not (yet) independent Scotland is taken out of the EU against our will. Time to put ourselves in the driving seat of our own future, Scotland #indyref2
The comments made by Jim McMahon, the Shadow Transport Secretary, on 1 January 2021.
This piecemeal approach from the Government appears to do very little to protect the rights of workers, who have suffered as a result of opportunistic fire and rehire policies, and leaves the taxpayer to shoulder most of the risk.
It’s time for the Chancellor to deliver on the full package of support he promised the aviation sector months ago.
The Prime Minister’s 2020 New Year’s Eve Message, issued on 31 December 2020.
Well folks we are coming to the end of 2020.
The year in which the Government was forced to tell people how to live their lives, how long to wash their hands, how many households could meet together.
And a year in which we lost too many loved ones before their time.
So I can imagine that there will be plenty of people who will be only too happy to say goodbye to the grimness of 2020.
But just before we do, I want to remind you that this was also the year when we rediscovered a spirit of togetherness, of community.
It was a year in which we banged saucepans to celebrate the courage and self-sacrifice of our NHS staff and care home workers
A year in which working people pulled the stops out to keep the country moving in the biggest crisis we have faced for generations – shopworkers, transport staff, pharmacists, emergency services, everyone, you name it.
We saw a renewed spirit of volunteering, as people delivered food to the elderly and vulnerable.
And time after time as it became necessary to fight new waves of the virus, we saw people unite in their determination, our determination, to protect the NHS and to save lives.
Putting their lives, your lives, on hold.
Buying precious time for medicine to provide the answers, and it has.
In 2020 we have seen British scientists not only produce the world’s first effective treatment of the disease, but just in the last few days a beacon of hope has been lit in the laboratories of Oxford.
A new room temperature vaccine that can be produced cheaply and at scale,
and that offers literally a new lease of life to people in this country and around the world.
And with every jab that goes into the arm of every elderly or vulnerable person, we are changing the odds, in favour of humanity and against Covid.
And we know that we have a hard struggle still ahead of us for weeks and months, because we face a new variant of the disease that requires a new vigilance.
But as the sun rises tomorrow on 2021 we have the certainty of those vaccines.
Pioneered in a UK that is also free to do things differently, and if necessary better, than our friends in the EU.
Free to do trade deals around the world.
And free to turbocharge our ambition to be a science superpower.
From biosciences to artificial intelligence,
and with our world-leading battery and wind technology we will work with partners around the world,
not just to tackle climate change but to create the millions of high skilled jobs this country will need not just this year – 2021 – as we bounce back from Covid, but in the years to come.
This is an amazing moment for this country.
We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it.
And I think it will be the overwhelming instinct of the people of this country to come together as one United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland working together to express our values around the world.
Leading both the G7 and the COP 26 climate change summit in Glasgow,
And an open, generous, outward looking, internationalist and free trading global Britain, that campaigns for 12 years of quality education for every girl in the world.
2021 is the year we can do it,
and I believe 2021 is above all, the year when we will eventually do those everyday things that now seem lost in the past.
Bathed in a rosy glow of nostalgia, going to the pub, concerts, theatres, restaurants, or simply holding hands with our loved ones in the normal way.
We are still a way off from that, there are tough weeks and months ahead.
But we can see that illuminated sign that marks the end of the journey, and even more important, we can see with growing clarity how we are going to get there.
And that is what gives me such confidence about 2021.
Happy New Year!
The statement made by Liz Truss, the Secretary of State for International Trade, on 1 January 2021.
Today we are pleased to announce that we have reached a consensus on the main elements of a new trade agreement. This provides the basis to replicate, the effects of the existing trade relationship between the UK and Ghana – a relationship which is underpinned by our strong people to people connections and has driven economic growth, created jobs, and inspired creativity and innovation in both our countries.
The intention is for the Agreement to provide duty free and quota free access for Ghana and the same preferential tariff reductions for British exporters as provided by the arrangement that is currently in force. We intend over the next few weeks to finalise the text of the Agreement to reflect progress made in relation to rules of origin, cumulation arrangements, time bound commitments, provisions for development cooperation and commitments to human rights and good governance.
We re-affirm our shared ambition to further strengthen our partnership in the future and to work with the West African partners to make progress towards a regional agreement.