My Lords, I shall speak to Amendments 220, 221 and 222, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Storey, and Amendment 223, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy. I join other noble Lords in welcoming the government Amendments 241A and 274. I declare an interest as chief executive of Diabetes UK. We have been delighted and I thank the Minister and his department for the way they responded to the very real case for improved support for children in schools with health conditions, a case that was made not only by the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance but by some parents and children whom the Minister very kindly agreed to see during the summer. These laid out their personal cases in rather heart-rending fashion and demonstrated just how fundamentally the support given in school can influence not only children’s health but also their self-esteem, their educational attainment and their family’s economic circumstances if a parent has to stop working to meet the shortfalls in support that the school is failing to provide.
This is not a small-scale problem: we have heard from many noble Lords this afternoon and there are many more than a million children involved. I shall not go through all the statistics—noble Lords have
heard many of them already—or even the heart-rending stories, because I think the Minister got that in bucketloads during the summer. I do, however, want to raise some practical issues that go with the Government’s amendment to lay a statutory duty on schools to provide support. We are very pleased that the amendment includes academies—that is very welcome—but the statutory duty is not enough on its own and we are very pleased that the Government are committed to backing this up with statutory guidance.
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That needs to be pretty strong and clear and to include some of the issues that have been raised in the amendments from the noble Lords, Lord Kennedy and Lord Storey. I should like to highlight three in particular because they also need statutory force and, if they are not going to be in the Bill, will the statutory guidance be sufficient to give them statutory force? The first issue is that each school must have an appropriate policy for dealing in an anticipatory way with the health needs of children. The second is that every child must have a healthcare plan, agreed with the child and the parents. The third issue is one gleaned from discussions with parents, teachers and trade unions about the fundamental requirement for appropriate training for school staff, which the NHS is often not stepping up to the plate and providing, a point that the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, raised. This is fundamental if school staff are to feel confident in dealing with the wide range of health conditions. It must be provided by the NHS but currently in many places that is not happening. I believe that we should press the Minister to consider placing in the Bill a duty on health authorities to co-operate, as was outlined in Amendment 221 from the noble Lord, Lord Storey, and Amendment 223 from the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy.
Of course, as well as statutory measures there will need to be a range of good practice information, model policies and the ability for schools to access support and advice as we move forward. I am sure that the voluntary organisations involved in the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance will be pleased to play their part in providing that sort of information and support. However, there is one further issue that we perhaps need to examine: whether there is a way of encouraging, and indeed checking, on occasions, whether schools are adequately complying. I wonder if I could urge the Minister to consider urging Ofsted to use its guidance for inspectors to reinforce the importance of the new duty when it comes into play, and perhaps to encourage Ofsted to do what it does on occasions, which is, as part of the inspection regime, to gather data over a period about a particular issue to illuminate that issue and to gain perspective on the effectiveness of the implementation of the duty. That could be in 2015, when schools have had plenty of time to get themselves sorted. I would very much appreciate it if the Minister could consider encouraging Ofsted in that way.
In line with a request from other noble Lords, would the Minister be able to ensure that noble Lords see at least the scope of the draft statutory guidance before Report? As the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth,
said, that would avoid unnecessary heat and steam on Report. Peers need to be reassured that the combined duty and the statutory guidance will be sufficiently strong together so that we are not applying a statutory duty that is a bit of pig in a poke.
I thank the Minister again for this very important first step in giving schools a statutory duty. It has made a real contribution for children and families. I do not know whether he is e-literate, but if he reads the Diabetes UK Twitter feed he will see that the twitterati are in full flow with praise for what he has done. We now ask him to move even further up in the pantheon of heroes by showing in his response how some of these important accompanying conditions can be assured.