Indian variant schools data ‘not robust’, says PHE

Public Health England says it will not release data on spread of new variant in schools until ‘data is robust and quality assured’

27th May 2021, 5:20pm

Dave Speck

Public Heath England says it will not release data on the spread of the Indian variant in schools until “the collection process and data is robust and quality assured”.

That is despite a joint letter from eight education unions today calling for immediate publication of the data.

The letter, signed by teaching and school leaders’ unions including the Association of School and College Leaders, GMB, NASUWT, NAHT, NEU, NSEAD, UNISON and Unite - which, combined, represent the majority of school staff in the UK - is addressed to education secretary Gavin Williamson and says the unions “have repeatedly requested this data since early May” and says the government should have been released in advance of the change in guidance on face coverings on 17 May.

The joint letter says: “There are growing concerns around the variant B.1.617.2 [Indian variant] and reports from areas such as Bolton that cases are growing fastest amongst school-age children, with cases in Bolton higher now than at any point during the pandemic.”

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Last weekend, The Observer ran a report suggesting that Downing Street “leaned on” Public Health England not to publish the data - just days before Boris Johnson said that face coverings would no longer be a requirement in schools.

And today’s letter specifically asks that question: “Did the government instruct PHE not to release this data? If so, why?”

It also asks:

When did PHE first share data with ministers on the spread of the Indian variant in schools and colleges?
Will the government now commit to sharing the data immediately? If not, why not?

A spokesperson for Public Health England said: “A breakdown of the number of cases of each variant is published weekly. We are looking to extend this data to include information on clusters and outbreaks of variants by setting.

“Once we are happy the collection process and data is robust and quality assured, and presented in a clear format we will publish for schools alongside other key settings as soon as possible.”