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<p>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.</p><p> </p><p>We are providing
laptops and tablets to 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. Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary
school and children in Year 10 do not have internet connections, we are providing
4G wireless routers.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has ordered over 200,000 laptops
and tablets and allocated devices to local authorities and academy trusts based on
its estimates of the number of eligible children that do not have access to a device.
Local authorities and academy trusts are best placed to identify and prioritise children
and young people who need devices. The Department is working to provide these devices
in the shortest possible timeframe; deliveries to schools and local authorities began
in May and will continue throughout June. So far we have shipped over 100,000 laptops
and 20,000 4G routers, including 1,803 to Norfolk local authority for children with
a social worker and care leavers.</p><p> </p><p>As a priority we will be delivering
devices and connectivity to children with a social worker and care leavers. Social
distancing presents a risk to the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable children since
Children’s Social Care services have reduced face-to-face contact with families. This
creates a need for remote safeguarding measures, but these are reliant on digital
infrastructure which is not available in every household. Families that require Children’s
Social Care services are put at a greater risk if they cannot be seen virtually and
monitored by safeguarding services online. Vulnerable care leavers also risk social
isolation and associated mental health problems.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has
published information about how many laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers we have
delivered or dispatched to local authorities and academy trusts as of 14 June, which
can be viewed here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data</a>.</p>
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