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Headteachers could face legal action for making pupils wear face masks when schools reopen in September

PA
PA

Headteachers who "irrationally" force school pupils to wear face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic could face legal action for doing so, a law firm has warned.

School leaders were cautioned that if they refuse to back down over plans to make face masks compulsory when classrooms fully reopen in September, they may face a judicial review, the Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday.

George McLellan, an expert in public law at DLA Piper, told the newspaper that schools which press ahead with imposing face masks would be acting in a “manifestly absurd” manner and using "disproportional" power as Government guidance does not mandate their use in such settings.

“The primary ground for judicial review would be unreasonableness or irrationality,” he said. “The concern with masks is that there is no rational basis for them to be required. We would say there is a lack of proportionality of requiring children in schools to wear masks.”

Molly Kingsley, co-founder of the parents’ campaign group UsForThem, meanwhile said that her organisation would join with DLA Piper in backing parents who wished to bring a judicial review against their children’s school.

“Based on the anger we have seen among our group, there is a very visceral reaction among parents to face masks in schools,” she said. “This is something parents would want to challenge and we would want to support them.”

Mr McLellan's comments came after Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last week that ministers are not recommending masks be used in schools because “if you're in a classroom with kids all day then a mask doesn't give you protection”.

Mr Hancock said face coverings helped prevent the spread of Covid-19 during short interactions with strangers, but that social distancing and hand washing were more effective means of reducing transmission of the virus during periods of prolonged contact with other people.

However, contradicting the Government's stance, at least 10 schools nationwide have decided to make coverings compulsory or "strongly encouraged" for pupils.

Education unions have also backed the wearing of face masks in schools and urged ministers to extend legislation mandating their use in shops and on public transport to classrooms.

The UK’s biggest teacher union said it has raised concerns with the Government over the issue, and highlighted the “lack of consistency” with guidance on other public places.

Avis Gilmore, deputy general secretary at the National Education Union, told The Telegraph they will “continue to question” minister's advice on face masks ahead of schools fully reopening in September.

Dr Patrick Roach, the general secretary of the NASUWT teachers' union, meanwhile told the newspaper that official advice for face masks in schools is “out of step” with guidance to other employers.

"Teachers and other staff working in schools also want to be assured that they will be afforded the same level of protection as other workers,” he said.

Dr Roach added that children over the age of 11 being required to wear coverings when they visit shops and banks suggested there is a "strong argument" that face masks should also be made compulsory for children when they return to secondary schools later this year.

But a Department for Education spokesperson said the Government had "set out the controls schools should use, including cleaning and hygiene measures, to substantially reduce the risk of transmission of the virus when they open to all children from September".

"This does not include the wearing of face coverings as we believe the system of controls laid out adequately reduced the risk of transmission to both staff and students," the spokesperson told The Telegraph.

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