DfE 'made pandemic mistakes'

MANY mistakes were made in the Department for Education’s (DfE) planning for school closures during the pandemic, former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson has said.

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Sir Gavin told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry yesterday: “I readily accept that there were many mistakes that were made, both pre-pandemic and in those early stages of the pandemic.”

He also said he was sorry the DfE had not been sharp enough in its response. “The weight wasn’t put on to that emerging scientific evidence that did clearly prove to be right,’ he said.