Sky News 11.53 a.m today
Birmingham City Council backs primary schools who don't want to reopen tomorrow
Sky News correspondent Paul Kelso has been to Birmingham, where he spoke to the city council leader...
In Birmingham, primary schools are due to re-open tomorrow, but the local authority says it will back head teachers if they decide to defy government instruction and remain closed on safety grounds.
Like London the city is in Tier 4, but there has been no order to close schools despite case numbers rising among school-age children.
Speaking this morning Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward told me: "Since the end of the second lockdown, we've seen case rates rising here in Birmingham, we now have 358 cases per 100,000 of the population.
"What's now different, though, is we're seeing case rates amongst the five to 14-year-olds in the city rise as well, which is a pattern we weren't seeing back in November.
“So given where we now are, we believe the government should pause and reflect on what is going on amongst children, young people, and delay the opening of primary schools in Birmingham tomorrow.
"What we're suggesting is that primary schools carry out a risk assessment and if it's not safe to open their school, then they should not open the school and will stand behind that decision taken by head teachers.”
The council’s position puts the onus on head teachers to make complex safety assessments but it is a sign of the lack of consensus on the return to education.