| answer text |
<p>The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education
and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets
for disadvantaged children and young people.</p><p>As of Monday 8 February 2021, this
includes over 980,000 laptops and tablets that were delivered to schools, academy
trusts and local authorities.</p><p>Laptops and tablets are owned by schools, academy
trusts or local authorities, who can lend these to children and young people who need
them most during the current COVID-19 restrictions.</p><p>The Government is providing
this significant injection of devices on top of an estimated 2.9 million laptops and
tablets already owned by schools before the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>Figures
on the number of devices already delivered are available here: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data"
target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data</a>.
This includes 1,749 delivered to the City of Hull local authority. The Department
have also delivered devices to academy trusts, including schools in Yorkshire and
the Humber, which are not included in this figure.</p><p>Regional figures for delivery
of devices are currently not available for the period requested and figures by Parliamentary
constituency are also not available.</p><p>Where schools need additional devices to
support disadvantaged children, they should contact the Department for Education’s
service team at <a href="mailto:covid.technology@education.gov.uk" target="_blank">covid.technology@education.gov.uk</a>.
They should include the number of pupils in Years 3 to 13 who require support and
an explanation of how they have gathered this evidence.</p><p>To support access to
the internet, the Department have partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators
to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online, as well as delivering
4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home. The Department are grateful
to EE, O2, Sky Mobile, Smarty, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Mobile, Vodafone, BT Mobile
and Lycamobile for their collaboration. We are currently engaged with additional mobile
network operators and continue to invite a range of mobile network providers to support
the offer.</p>
|
|
