Firstly, my understanding is that despite the fact that there has been an announcement in Scotland of all children returning to school with no social distancing in August, no guidance has actually been produced by the Scottish Government to support that decision. That reflects the very complex issues that myself and Ministers across the United Kingdom are grappling with, especially as the science and the understanding of how the disease behaves continue to evolve.

We had some notice that new scientific papers were being made available to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies at the end of this week. We requested that those papers be sent to Welsh Government as early as possible, so that they could be figured into our planning. I did not want to make a statement and then to have that overtaken by events should then further science become available. I think it's really important that we build confidence amongst staff and, crucially, parents that we are acting on the very latest scientific advice.

Throughout this process we have said that our aim would be to maximise face-to-face contact for our children and to minimise disruption, and I know that schools have prepared operational guidance for a range of scenarios, and those plans will have to be kept under review regardless of what statement I am able to make by the end of this week, because how the disease behaves in our community is key to unlocking educational opportunities for children. I can assure the Member that decisions taken within the department are subject to an integrated rights assessment.