Guidance on Critical Sector Workers
The Government has published Guidance for schools, colleges and local authorities on maintaining educational provision with the detail of critical sector workers whose children may remain in school. The Department for Education has also published Guidance: Closure of educational settings: information for parents and carers which adds that children with at least one parent or carer identified as critical workers by the government can send their children to school if they need to.
List of Critical Workers
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Health and Social Care
Includes but is not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributors of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.
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Education and Childcare
Nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach.
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Key Public Services
Those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting.
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Local and National Government
Only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering public services such as the payment of benefits, including government agencies and arms-length bodies.
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Food and other Necessary Goods
Food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (e.g. hygienic and veterinary medicines).
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Public Safety and National Security
Police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.
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Transport
Those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.
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Utilities, Communication and Financial Services
Staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure), the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors.
Vulnerable Children
In addition to the children of key workers, vulnerable children may also attend school. Vulnerable children include children who are supported by social care, those with safeguarding and welfare needs, including child in need plans, on child protection plans, ‘looked after’ children, young carers, disabled children and those with education, health and care (EHC) plans.
Residential special schools, boarding schools and special settings should continue to care for children wherever possible.
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