Pupils face return of masks on council orders

Ministers accused of ‘washing hands’ of issue after local authorities get powers to set tough rules

‘This will embolden councils to act and it will become a race to the bottom. They will be like dominos and go one after the other’

‘Any educational and wellbeing drawbacks in use of face coverings should be balanced with benefits of managing transmission’

MASKS are set to return to schools as local public health directors have been given new powers to bypass Whitehall and introduce tougher restrictions on children.

Changes to official guidance now mean that regional public health officials can impose masks on secondaryschool pupils without the move being sanctioned by Downing Street.

Previously, local authorities needed to get sign-off from the Government-before introducing Covid restrictions in schools.

Ministers have been accused of “washing their hands” of the issue, with family groups warning that the move could create a “domino” effect where councils across the country mandate masks in schools.

“This will lead to more and more councils going in the same direction and imposing face masks on children,” said Liz Cole, co-founder of Usforthem, a parent campaign group.

“This will embolden councils to act and it will become a race to the bottom. The councils will be like dominos and go one after the other.

“If the Government is now distancing itself from what is happening on the ground, how is there going to be an exit strategy from these measures? The Government is washing its hands of it.”

As masks are not being imposed for adults, this “widens the inequality” between adults and children, critics say.

Previously, a local council had to be designated by Downing Street officials as an “enhanced-response” area if it wanted to impose masks on pupils.

This designation is no longer required, meaning local public health directors can advise pupils in their area to wear masks in communal areas if there is a rise in cases.

Local public health directors have also been given the power to tell children to wear masks during lessons if there is an outbreak at a school. Permission would still need to be sought from ministers before imposing face masks during lessons in an entire region.

The change in official guidance comes as concern rises about a potential increase in Covid cases among children during the run-up to Christmas.

More than half of children of secondary school age are estimated to have become infected with the virus since the start of September.

“In all cases any educational and wellbeing drawbacks in the recommended use of face coverings should be balanced with the benefits in managing transmission,” the guidance from the Department for Education says.

“Children of primary school age and early years children should not be advised to wear face coverings.”

The Government has attempted to ramp up a vaccination campaign in children in recent weeks. But fewer than four in 10 eligible children have so far had a jab, with just over one million of those aged between 12 and 15 in England having been vaccinated.

Earlier this week health chiefs said that children who have had Covid should wait three months to be vaccinated. The UK Health Security Agency said that the new guidance for children aged 12 to 15 had been taken as precautionary measure to reduce the risks of a rare type of heart inflammation.

Until now, parents have been advised to wait a month for children who get Covid to be vaccinated. The advice, following a review by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, affects millions of children.