Responding to the announcement that disadvantaged pupils in England will be able to borrow laptops to study online while schools are closed, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Layla Moran said: “The announcement, which will help disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils to learn alongside their peers, is of course welcome. But there’s an elephant in the room: we don’t even know who all the vulnerable and disadvantaged children, who need more support and help, are.
“The Government needs to do much more to try and locate these vulnerable children, otherwise the help they are offering will be futile. With so many families being plunged into financial uncertainty overnight, there are thousands of families desperately in need of support who are not on the Government’s radar.
“The Government must also agree to an increase in child benefit, which is crucial if the Government are to stop the disadvantage gap from widening any further during this crisis. It is not right that parents across the UK are panicking that their children will be going hungry as they struggle to put food on the table.”