PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Children: Ethnic Groups (1 July 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2020 to Questions 61818, 61819 and 61820 on Children: Ethnic Groups and with reference to his statement in that Answer that his Department does not centrally hold that information, for what reasons the information is not held centrally; and whether his Department plans to gather and hold that information in the future.

Asked by:
Apsana Begum (Independent)

When making decisions about asking schools to welcome back more children, Ministers have had due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and to advance equality of opportunities and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not, as required by section 149 of the Equality Act 2010.

We continue to keep our assessment of those matters under review. This has been an in depth and ongoing assessment of the impacts of the Government’s policy, including on groups with protected characteristics such as race. The assessments continue to form an active part of the decision-making process.

Importantly, we know that some staff, parents and pupils may be anxious about returning to school. Where individuals are concerned about their comparatively increased risk from coronavirus, due to factors including ethnicity, age, sex and comorbidities, we are asking school leaders to discuss concerns and provide reassurance of the measures they are putting in place to reduce the risk, in line with our guidance.

Answered by:
Nick Gibb (Conservative)
8 July 2020