Robert Halfon, the Conservative chairman of the Commons Education Select Committee, has called for the chief medical officer Chris Whitty to explain the reason the face masks policy has changed in order to reassure parents and pupils.

Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: “I think the chief medical officer, just as he did last Sunday about the risk of school return, or low risks, should put out a letter about the mask policy.

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“What exactly it is and why it is and the science behind it, but in a way that ordinary folk can understand it.”

He added: “We just have to concentrate on getting our kids learning again. Whatever has gone on the priority must be to get our kids learning and deal with issues of attainment.

“The department and schools need to get data on how much the left-behind pupils during the coronavirus need to catch up and what the effect of the loss of learning has been.”