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<p><del class="ministerial">During the autumn term, the department provided CO₂ monitors
to all state-funded education providers. This includes early years, schools, and further
education providers, backed by £25 million in government funding. Further information
on this can be found here <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/all-schools-to-receive-carbon-dioxide-monitors"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/all-schools-to-receive-carbon-dioxide-monitors</a>.</del></p><p><del
class="ministerial">The department has now delivered on our public commitment with
over 353,000 monitors delivered. The programme provided schools and other settings
with sufficient monitors to take representative readings from across their estate.
Feedback suggests that schools are finding the monitors helpful to manage ventilation
and, in most education providers, existing ventilation measures are sufficient.</del></p><p><del
class="ministerial">CO₂ monitors are an additional measure which the department have
rolled out to education providers to be used as a guide for where ventilation can
be improved. This is not intended to create an additional burden on staff but is an
extra tool to support education providers to improve ventilation. It is up to school
leaders to decide how to best use them in their specific setting.</del></p><p><del
class="ministerial">On 2 January 2022, the department announced that 7000 air cleaning
units are now being made available for mainstream state-funded providers, in addition
to the 1000 units made available for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
and alternative provision (AP) settings that we announced in November. Settings can
apply for funded units via an online form. Applications are open until 9am on 17 January.</del></p><p><del
class="ministerial">Before applying for a funded air cleaning unit, the following
criteria must be met by mainstream education providers, as set out in the ‘How to
apply for a Department for Education-funded air cleaning unit' guidance, which is
available on the ventilation document sharing platform:</del></p><ul><li><del class="ministerial">Sustained
high CO₂ readings: there have been sustained high CO₂ readings (1500ppm or higher)
for at least 1 week while the room is occupied, despite taking all measures possible
to introduce ventilation.</del></li><li><del class="ministerial">Lengthy remedial
works required in order to address poor ventilation, that cannot be completed before
the end of February 2022.</del></li><li><del class="ministerial">Suitable space: air
cleaning units will be allocated for teaching spaces only.</del></li></ul><p><del
class="ministerial">There are different criteria for SEND and AP settings due the
higher-than-average number of vulnerable pupils attending those settings. For these
education providers, air cleaning units will also be allocated to poorly ventilated
staff rooms. The department will prioritise spaces with the poorest ventilation to
receive units based on criteria such as CO₂ readings and occupation density.</del></p><p><del
class="ministerial">The department has also launched an online marketplace which provides
settings with a route to purchasing air cleaning units at a suitable specification
and competitive price. Further information is available here: <a href="https://s107t01-webapp-v2-01.azurewebsites.net/list/air-cleaning"
target="_blank">https://s107t01-webapp-v2-01.azurewebsites.net/list/air-cleaning</a>.
In the future, the department may review this list and as more products which meet
our specification become available, these will be added. All purchases through the
marketplace are managed by the supplier, rather than by the department.</del></p><p><ins
class="ministerial">The CO2 monitors funded by the department do not automatically
report readings, they are read manually by school staff. CO2 monitors are an additional
measure which we are rolling out to education providers to be used as a guide for
where ventilation can be improved. This is not intended to create an additional burden
on staff but is an extra tool to support providers to improve ventilation. It is up
to school leaders to decide how to best use them in their specific school, college
or nursery.</ins></p>
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