“Public interest” means government advice on mask-wearing in schools must be kept secret, says Department for Education

The Department for Education has ruled that a report which informed its decision to scrap a recommendation that masks be worn in classrooms should be kept secret, on “public interest” grounds.

Unpublished advice to government is best kept confidential, with this requirement being especially acute given “the unprecedented nature of the impact of [Covid-19] on the country,” ministers ruled in a Freedom of Information response.

The ruling stands in contrast to the thoughts of the Prime Minister’s former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, who has argued in recent months that the pandemic underlines the need for greater, rather than lesser, transparency.

The background

The campaign group “SafeEdforAll UK”, (SEAUK)which advocates mitigation measures to make schools safe from Covid, had asked, under FOI, the DfE to provide background information on its decision to scrap its recommendation that masks be worn in classrooms.