To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make an assessment of the extent to which anxiety about liability for slipping injuries influenced decisions on school closures during the recent severe weather episode. (317508)

The Government do not collect data on the reasons for which schools close during severe weather, and there is no duty on schools to advise the Government why they closed.

The Department’s guidance to schools about planning for, and responding to severe weather urges them to take a proportionate approach, balancing any risks arising from less supervision and minor slips and bumps against disruption to pupils’ learning.