Schools Bill [HL]

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Report stage & Lords Hansard - Part 1
Monday 18th July 2022 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords, that is one of the reasons why I support what has been said by the noble Lord, Lord Baker, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge. This is not just about a particular Bill; it is about the way we do business. As I am just about to finish my first parliamentary year in this House, and, as other noble Lords have said, a situation of this kind has not arisen before, I would not like to think that this would set a precedent in any way for the way in which the House considers its business in future. When it comes to what I might call negotiating leverage, one day is a derisory offer to the House; with no disrespect to the Minister, that is not good enough. There is great merit in not agreeing to allow a date for Third Reading to be set at this stage.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, it is quite clear that the Bill has been badly received across the whole House. Whole chunks of it have been taken out and it is in a very poor state, and it is clear that it should not have come here at all because it had not been put together properly. I am sure the Minister has heard that; it is not the first time that these views have been expressed. We will have a new Government in September, and then it will be up to the Prime Minister. This Bill may disappear completely—we do not know.

I have been part of the usual channels now for 13 months, and I hope still to be here in September—in one or other part of the usual channels. I will spend my summer working with colleagues in other parts of the House to ensure that the points raised by colleagues are fully understood by the Government, so that we can work together, bring things back and have a system that everyone is happy with. The Minister has heard how dissatisfied the House is. I am sorry, but I think that is important.

One thing I have learned as Opposition Chief Whip is that the forthcoming business can change from day to day, never mind what is going to happen in September. Particularly in March and April, the forthcoming business was changing literally every day. The fact that it is listed for September does not necessarily mean that it will happen then. We do not know. We will have those discussions then.

As the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, has mentioned, we have the other protection of his Motion. I am sure that if Third Reading is tabled and he is unhappy with it, his Motion will be tabled for the House to consider. There are many barriers in place to make sure that the House can make its views known if it is unhappy. I am sure the Minister has heard how unhappy the House is.

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The Minister has heard loud and clear. I suppose I would say a couple of things—but very briefly, because it is important that we get on and hear your Lordships’ thoughts on the rest of the Bill.

I say to the noble Lord, Lord, Grocott that the Bill is not beyond repair. There are significant parts of it—relating to the children not in school register and illegal schools—that are definitely not beyond repair. I also point the noble Lord to the large section of the Bill where there have been no amendments at all.

My request to your Lordships is that when we come to look at the new clauses, noble Lords leave these debates behind and look at them objectively, fairly and with all the experience and critical judgment that they can bring to them. I hope very much that, when that happens, the Bill can see a speedy passage.

Schools Bill [HL]

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Report stage & Lords Hansard - Part 1
Tuesday 12th July 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Addington (LD)]

My Lords, I will briefly speak to this. I agree with the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Knight. The Government have moved on this Bill; they have listened. They have given more than I have ever seen a Government give. It is possibly true that they had to. It is the worst Bill I have ever seen, but the Minister was described by one of my colleagues as the rock around which a raging department breaks. My noble friend Lord Shipley came up with that one, not me, so he gets the credit. I hope when the Minister replies that she gives some indication or guarantees of what we are going to get if we carry on with the planning. Things have moved on.

There is a nasty little internal fight going on behind the Minister. As much fun as it would be to wade in, it ain’t my fight. I hope the Minister can tell us what is going on. I have never seen another Bill that has got itself into this big a mess. I am not the longest-serving person here, but I am the longest-serving on my Benches. If nothing happens and the Bill is unacceptable at Third Reading, we can do something then, but let us hear what the Government have to say now. There has been a great deal of work done and a great many meetings. A lot of work is going on here. Grand gestures are great, but let us not get in the way of the work of the House.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, as my noble friend Lord Knight said, we should proceed with Report. I am happy to have discussions with the Government Chief Whip, through the usual channels, between the end of Report and Third Reading, and we will see how we can move forward from there.

I am not sure whether this is the worst Bill; from our point of view, there is quite a long list. Some of the comments from the Government Benches were interesting. Some of the views expressed have been our views for many months or even years, but they seem to have all turned up in the last week. I am not going to get involved in some spat between people on the Government Benches, but I am happy to have that discussion with the Government Chief Whip between the end of Report and Third Reading on how we should proceed.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education (Baroness Barran) (Con)]

My Lords, I shall try to address very briefly the points raised by the noble Baroness and other Members of the House, but I do not want to pre-empt the wider debate that the House is about to have on the Bill.

As I said in my letter to your Lordships, the Government will accept the amendments to remove the first 18 clauses of the Bill and will engage extensively with your Lordships and the sector about what replaces them. I feel very concerned at the tone of some of your Lordships’ remarks about the rest of the Bill, which brings in very important measures in relation to children not in school and illegal schools. I remind your Lordships that those parts of the Bill have been extensively consulted on. I do not think it is appropriate to describe them in the terms that they were referred to in today.

My noble friend the Chief Whip has had constructive discussions with the usual channels—I thank the Opposition Chief Whip for his remarks—about how such replacement clauses will receive proper scrutiny in the House and has agreed to relax the rules of debate on ping-pong for these clauses and to allow sufficient time for the first round of ping-pong. I am sure my noble friend the Chief Whip would be happy to speak to any of your Lordships about that in more detail. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Addington, for the tone of his remarks.

Special Educational Needs

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Monday 20th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take (1) to increase the Special Educational Needs budget in the current financial year, and (2) to ensure that this is a separate and protected budget line in the education sector.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend Lady Ritchie of Downpatrick, and with her permission, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in her name on the Order Paper.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education (Baroness Barran) (Con)]

My Lords, we are already increasing high needs funding for children and young people with more complex special educational needs and disabilities by £1 billion this financial year to a total of £9.1 billion as part of a schools funding allocation of £53.8 billion. It is important that local authorities and schools can use their budgets flexibly to assess what provision is required for the young people for whom they are responsible.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, there are currently more than 1 million children in the UK with special educational needs. In a Written Answer from the Minister received by my noble friend Lady Ritchie, it was disclosed that the mainstream allocation, which is supposed to represent £6,000 per student, was last year £4,136. As the funding is discretionary per local authority, as opposed to being allocated in a separate budget line by the Government, some children will get even less than that £4,000. In view of this, will the Government sort the problem by simply creating a separate budget line for SEN funding that they can then provide to local authorities in full?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I understand the point the noble Lord is making, but we believe it is very important that we give schools flexibility in how they spend their money. Local SENCOs, head teachers and other professionals working locally will be best placed to understand the needs of pupils in the school and the support they require.

Looked-after and Adopted Children

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Tuesday 28th January 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, we have created a large number of initiatives over the last few years. For example, the adoption support fund has provided £136 million since 2015 and has helped some 50,000 families. We have also committed a further £45 million in 2021 to provide therapeutic support for adoptive and eligible special guardian families through the same fund. The regional adoption agencies, through which over 70% of local authorities deliver their adoption services, are creating a system through which children are matched with adopters as quickly as possible and with the matches that are best suited.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

The noble Lord did not address the last part of the question from the right reverend Prelate about the adequacy of resources for local authorities to fulfil their duties. Will he answer that part of the question, please?

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, as I mentioned, we have provided interventions when local authorities have failed, and have seen 47 local authorities improve in their Ofsted inspections over the last five years and not revert downwards.

Social Justice Strategy

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Thursday 16th October 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Nash]

I am sorry; I did not appreciate that I was up and that the noble Lord had in fact finished. I think that I have answered the question concisely.

I start by thanking my noble friend Lady Tyler for so eloquently opening the debate on this very important strategy and our underlying ethos. Social justice is at the heart of this Government’s work. We have a two-pronged approach: education and welfare reform. These are the only ways that we can break—

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Lord Nash]

I think that I must continue. These are the only ways in which we can break that dreadful cycle of generational unemployment and/or family breakdown to which many noble Lords have referred. That is why this Government have the biggest programme of educational reform for 70 years in train, and substantial welfare reforms under way.

Over the course of this Parliament my department has brought in a substantial number of reforms to support better educational outcomes for all children, but particularly for the most disadvantaged. We have introduced the pupil premium to ensure that the most disadvantaged children realise their potential. Funding for this will reach £2.5 billion in the coming year: £1,300 for primary pupils, £935 for secondary, and £1,900 for looked-after children. More children from deprived backgrounds than ever before will benefit from free childcare at the same time as we strengthen the quality of early years education. From this September, every pupil in reception, year 1 and year 2 will receive free school meals, which will make a huge difference to ensuring that every child, regardless of family circumstances, is ready to learn.

Noble Lords will know how passionate I am about the academy and free schools programme. We have created more than 1,000 new sponsored academies, turning around schools that had previously been failing for years and which often serve the most deprived communities. We have approved 363 new free schools, including 39 alternative provision schools, 22 special schools, 56 university technical colleges and 46 studio schools. When open, those will provide 250,000 new places in total, the vast majority of which are in places of need. Some 25% of open free schools have been judged outstanding, making them our top performing group of non-selective schools.

We are also reforming the curriculum and exams, both academic and vocational. Increasingly schools are doing more EBacc subjects, giving pupils, particularly those from deprived backgrounds, the essential cultural capital they need, given that they do not get it at home. We have dramatically overhauled vocational qualifications and substantially expanded and improved apprenticeships. We are reforming teacher training with far more of it conducted in school. We have introduced bursaryships into teacher recruitment, and have introduced phonics into primary schools. We are also investing in the school estate and are arresting the sharp decline in our relative educational performance that took place in the first decade of this century.

I congratulate the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Ely on his excellent maiden speech and thank him for all the work he does in support of social justice, but particularly in the field of education, with academies and in general, and I wish him well in his new position as chair of the National Society. The church’s contribution to education in this country is long-standing, very substantial and highly impactful, as it is of course in its work on poverty in general.

So far as welfare is concerned, at the beginning of this Parliament it was clear that a new approach to supporting the most disadvantaged individuals in society was needed. Too many people spent their lives moving between different support mechanisms, never receiving the support to make a long-standing difference to their life. Too many people were faced with multiple barriers to improving; for example, poor education and lack of skills, drug or alcohol addiction, a criminal record, lack of stable family support, no stable home, problem debt and health problems. Those problems do not exist independently of each other. They can interact, and together create a vicious cycle which is hard to break out of. The piecemeal approach of the past did not effectively tackle the multiple problems people face, so this Government wanted to look for new ways to tackle these issues. We wanted to deliver real and sustained change.

First, we recognised that this was not something that could be solved by central government alone—the old top-down approach had not worked. We needed to involve local authorities, the voluntary sector and business; in other words, we needed a community-based approach. We needed to ensure that we got value for money—we knew that large sums had been wasted in this area in the past. We had to build an evidence base of which interventions work, solutions had to be on a payment-by-results basis, and we had to measure the progress we made against key indicators.

Most importantly, our reforms needed to achieve a long-lasting recovery rather than management of entrenched problems. That meant looking for and treating the cause of the problems rather than the symptoms. It also means intervening early in people’s lives to prevent problems in the first place. For example, we can work with a drug user to help them tackle their addiction. However, to turn their life around we need to ensure that they have stable housing and the skills to find employment, and we need to tackle other underlying health problems. Without that rounded support it is unlikely that an individual will be able to make a long-standing change to their life. We are delivering the strategy through growing the social investment market, using payment-by-results models and collaborating with local authorities, the voluntary sector and employers. These are not easy problems to tackle and there is no quick fix; making our vision a reality will take time. However, we have made great progress towards our goals. Our first progress report was published in April 2013. This autumn we will publish the second social justice progress report, giving details of how we are implementing the strategy and our achievements so far. This November also sees our third annual social justice conference. This brings together delegates from government, the private sector, the voluntary sector and most importantly the people whose lives we are transforming to work together to deliver social justice.

I will give a few examples of the progress we have made across the social justice strategy. The family environment is the foundation of a child’s life and we are committed to supporting safe and loving family relationships. Relationship support policy is being brought under one department, with DWP investing £30 million to successfully deliver marriage preparation, couple counselling and relationship education. However, when relationships break down, we are trying to minimise the negative impacts on children by promoting more collaboration. The child maintenance system has been reformed to encourage separated couples to agree their own arrangements and reduce disputes.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Nash]

If I cannot provide the noble Lord with an answer before I finish speaking, I will write to him.

The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Truro mentioned that we have more than 100,000 young carers. I know all too well from my work in schools that too often we struggle to get pupils on residentials because of their duties caring both for adults and siblings. Sadly, home life has collapsed in recent decades for many children. We need to educate these children, supported by welfare reforms, out of this dreadful cycle. I agree with the right reverend Prelate’s good points about the glue of justice.

The noble Lord, Lord Northbourne, developed the right reverend Prelate’s thoughts in relation to disadvantaged families and breaking the cycle. I agree entirely. Character development and bringing up our pupils in schools to be part of a happy family is a subject dear to my heart and to that of the Secretary of State for Education. We are encouraging and setting expectations for all schools that soft skills, character development, grit and resilience are essential parts of school life. It is increasingly prevalent in the academies movement. The noble Lord mentioned boarding, and we are keen to ensure that more local authorities see this as a real option.

My noble friend Lady Tyler asked about the impact of welfare reform in relation to the Cabinet committee. It considers many different government policies, including welfare reform, disadvantaged people and how to join up policy to support those with multiple disadvantage.

The noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, talked about regular SLCN assessment. We discussed this as some length during the passage of the Children and Families Bill. I can assure the noble Lord that the Government share his aim of identifying SLC needs as early as possible. We believe that our reforms are designed to do that. We are, of course, reforming assessment in primary schools in particular, and ensuring that all schools have proper baseline tests to benefit all pupils. Our phonics reforms are having a substantial impact on pupils’ word-reading skills.

I agree entirely with the noble Lord that many people in youth custody lack basic skills and present with insufficient outcomes. I know that he has concerns about this model but we hope that with our EHC plans the principal of the secure college with an SEN-qualified co-ordinator will help the matter. He talked about gang advisers and the good work of the St Giles Trust on recreating a good family. I entirely agree with him. I will pass his points about the criminal justice system on to that department, as well as his points about cross-departmental work. I am sure that he will be pleased to hear that this Government have narrowed the gap in attainment for children who have free school meals.

The noble Baroness, Lady Uddin, referred to the outlook for the disabled. We have seen 116,000 more disabled people in work in the past year alone. We are spending £50 billion a year on disability benefits and services—more than the previous Government. Our SEN reforms, I hope, will substantially improve the outlook for all children with SEN, from whatever background, including those with autism.

To close, I thank my noble friend Lady Tyler for bringing this debate to the House. I congratulate again the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Ely on his excellent and eloquent maiden speech. Social justice is about transforming the lives of the most disadvantaged people in society and is at the core of this Government’s reform. It is about intervening early to prevent problems becoming entrenched in the first place. We are working with local government and the voluntary and private sectors to provide the rounded support that individuals need to turn their lives around. Many interesting points have been raised and I thank all noble Lords and noble friends for their contributions to the debate.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

Before the noble Lord sits down, will he please respond to point that my noble friend Lord McAvoy made? Where is the noble Lord, Lord Freud? Why is he not here today? My Question this morning was answered by the noble Lord, Lord Newby. There must be a reason why the noble Lord, Lord Freud, is not here. Please answer the question. I refer the noble Lord, Lord Nash, who refused my intervention earlier, to paragraph 4.31 of the Companion.

[Lord Nash]

I think that I answered the question, which I was asked to answer concisely. As to the intervention, the clerk indicated to me that I did not have to give way.

Children and Families Bill

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Wednesday 29th January 2014 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

57C: Clause 81, page 57, line 16, at end insert—
“(7) In preparing and implementing individual health care plans and following the guidance issued by the Secretary of State, local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and governing bodies must work together in fulfilling their functions under this Act.”

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister and his officials for the time that they have given to me, my noble friend Lady Young, many of the staff at Diabetes UK and many others. I draw noble Lords’ attention to my entry in the register of Members’ interests: I am the chair of a small council at Diabetes UK.

I very much welcome the decision that the noble Lord, Lord Nash, and the Government made to include in the Bill a duty on schools to make arrangements for children with health conditions. I am genuinely grateful for that; it is a hugely positive step, and one that we hope will ensure that children with medical conditions get the support and help that they need to thrive at school. The draft guidance sets out many things that schools must do to ensure that children with medical conditions can take part in all parts of school life and give them the best possible chance of reaching their academic potential while staying safe and healthy. The draft guidance also acknowledges the different roles that CCGs, local authorities, schools, nurses, GPs and providers of health services have in ensuring that children with medical conditions get the support that they need to be in school. School nurses have several key roles in helping schools to meet the needs of children with medical conditions.

For many children with medical conditions, their specialist nurse often fulfils this role. Without this medical expertise, schools would not be in a position properly to support children with medical conditions, from awareness training about a condition right up to full training about a child’s condition, the administration of medicine and the use of equipment. While these responsibilities are included in the draft guidance, there remains no requirement in the Bill for local authorities or CCGs to fulfil their roles. That is why I have tabled Amendment 57C. It is essential that schools know that they can rely on their local authority, CCG and local health services to provide the expertise and training their staff will need.

The problems people report to many of the charities in the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance suggest that there will be an initial increase in requests for training as schools improve their support. We do not want to see some schools left without the training and skills their staff need.

We are already aware that there have been many occasions when schools have asked for training and the local authority or the local health service has not been able to provide it. The draft guidance refers to the NHS Act 2006 and Section 10 of the Children Act 2004, but these are general duties rather than ones that specifically meet the very particular needs that schools will have in securing the training they need for their staff. Has the Minister considered the possibility that some schools will not be able to access the training and expertise their staff need? If local authorities and CCGs cannot or will not provide the training and skills they need, will the Minister clarify what the next step is for a school in that situation?

When considering this point, it is important that we face up to some of the realities. We know that there are roughly 1,300 fully qualified school nurses. The average school nurse already looks after around 10 primary schools and two secondary schools. Even if the number of school nurses were to increase, it would take several years, and the duty needs to start to make a difference this September.

At the moment, we know that for more complex needs it is often the specialist nurse who organises training, helps to produce the individual healthcare plan and advises how much support each child requires. If the duty is to make an impact, the roles of the specialist nurse, school nurses and the local authorities that commission them and other healthcare professionals are vital. How will the crucial role of healthcare professionals, local authorities and CCGs in making sure that things improve in school for children with health conditions be communicated to them?

The indicative draft makes it very clear just how important an individual healthcare plan is. An individual healthcare plan draws together the thoughts of the school, a healthcare professional, pupils and parents. It makes clear how the condition might affect the pupil, sets out the medicine and equipment they need, and details the management of their condition, who should be trained, the level of support needed, what to do in emergencies and who is responsible for doing what. It is also tailored specifically to each child or young person with a medical condition. Yet the indicative draft guidance also states that not all children with a medical condition will need an individual healthcare plan. The Health Conditions in Schools Alliance has said that it cannot envisage a situation in which a child with a medical condition would not need an individual healthcare plan. Even in circumstances where the pupil manages the condition themselves and is rarely affected by it, it is worth noting in an individual healthcare plan that the condition exists, the medicine the pupil takes to control it and what to do in an emergency. As it stands, the guidance gives schools an opportunity to opt out of delivering individual healthcare plans. It also raises the question: who makes this decision? We do not want a situation where someone is making arbitrary judgments on who does and does not get an individual healthcare plan.

The draft guidance makes very clear the role of the governing body in fulfilling the duty, both in agreeing policies and in making sure that they are delivered. Paragraph 10 of the guidance covers renewing policies regularly, which is very welcome. It would be strengthened further if it was made clear that governing bodies should audit the support the school provides for children with health conditions so that they know their medical condition and put it into policy, and ensure that any individual healthcare plans are delivered.

Many charities have recognised the complaint that some children’s individual healthcare plans are not followed. Making sure that the school fulfils what has been agreed will contribute to ensuring that children get the support they need. Again, I thank the Minister for what he has addressed on this subject so far, and I am pleased with what has been achieved to date. If he could respond to the questions I have asked, I would be very grateful, and if he could give some clarity on these last few points, I think we will be able to make real progress here.

--- Later in debate ---

As I have said, we will be testing all these points during public consultation. We will of course consider carefully all comments that we receive. We plan to launch the consultation next week and would be grateful for comments from noble Lords on this before finalising the guidance for schools to use from September this year. It is my view that the right drivers and incentives are now in place to ensure we achieve our objectives on this important issue. Culture change is never easy and does not happen overnight but I believe that on this issue we are all united and behind the same goal. As the new duty is implemented, we will keep the arrangements under regular review. I hope that that is sufficient to reassure noble Lords and I urge the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, to withdraw his amendment.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord very much for his response. I still have one or two concerns. The opt-out is an issue, as is the issue about what governing bodies and schools do. I accept his kind offer to meet with officials, which I will do in the next few days. Other noble Lords may want to come with me. There are one or two small things that can be ironed out. Having said that, I am very grateful for what the noble Lord has done up to now and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment 57C withdrawn.

Children and Families Bill

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2013 Grand Committee

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab)]

My Lords, earlier in this debate, I referred the Grand Committee to my declaration in respect of Diabetes UK. I shall speak to my Amendment 223—I am very grateful to the noble Lords who have supported it—and Amendment 241A, which was tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Nash. I am very grateful to him for tabling his amendment. He has clearly listened to representations made to him. The amendment goes a long way to address the issues raised in my amendment.

I reinforce the comments made by the noble Baroness, Lady Howe. The Health Conditions in Schools Alliance supports this amendment. The alliance is made up of 30 organisations representing more than 1 million children. It called for a duty to be placed on schools to support children with health conditions. Children with conditions such as asthma or diabetes are often left on their own or unsupervised and are vulnerable to an attack or a hypo. Some children are prevented from treating their condition as soon as they recognise the symptoms, often meaning that the situation ends up worse than it should be.

A lack of understanding from teachers and staff can make the situation worse by making a child anxious and stressed about their condition, which can make it worse than ever. A lack of understanding and training sometimes means that teachers and staff are not able to recognise that certain conditions or medications can affect learning and behaviour. Poor management of conditions often means that children miss lessons. Sometimes schools do not even have policies for absence and for whether a lesson has been learnt or not.

Good management of conditions means that children are better able to concentrate and get the most out of their time in school. Exclusion from school, whether from a trip, a lesson or for months at a time, is one of the most common problems for children who face long-term health conditions. In the past few days alone, Diabetes UK has had a number of calls to explain the problems of children. I shall not mention the children by name, but one 10 year-old girl who uses a pump has been told that she cannot go on a residential trip unless her mother attends as well. The dad was not considered appropriate. It is an activity holiday, so the girl would exercise far more than usual. A staff member would not be able to look after the child unless the mother attended, so she cannot take part in activities. This is quite common. Unless parents attend residential trips and deal with the medication, children are excluded from them.

The Anaphylaxis Campaign is aware of a 12 year-old girl in year 8 who has not been able to attend school for a single day this term because the school and the local authority have not properly prepared for her arrival.

Cases where parents are left to provide care in school are known. Some parents have to give up their jobs or reduce their working hours to make sure their child attends school.

The GMB, my union, and Unison support this amendment. Their members are often left to deliver the care, such as injecting insulin for children with diabetes or giving children with epilepsy their medication. This is a major issue for trade union members. They often feel they are not properly trained or that the training is never refreshed. They are anxious about responsibility for supporting children with health conditions and are not helped to fulfil that properly. This is deeply worrying for children with health conditions and their families, and is also grossly unfair on members of staff who are required to look after children but are not given the proper training or support to do the job properly.

My amendment places a duty on schools to work with local health services to offer training and refresher training to staff. It would require schools to have a proper policy in place to support children with health conditions. That would mean that schools are prepared for things such as staff leaving or being absent for school trips, and would know what training their staff can expect. All children with a health condition should have individual healthcare plans agreed between the school, the child, the parents and specialist nurses, tailored to meet the needs in various situations. Looking after children with health conditions is not impossible, and many schools do it incredibly well. A combination of good leadership, planning, communication and training shows how it can be done. It is not burdensome. Schools that achieve that in the end spend far less time looking after those children, who manage successfully themselves. Along with healthier children, well managed conditions mean fewer missed lessons, fewer incidents in classes, fewer meetings with worried parents, happier children and more confident staff.

We know that the Department for Education wants to reduce bureaucracy in schools, but at the moment, the only option that parents have if their complaints are ignored is the costly and time-consuming process of going to tribunals. One local authority was found to have discriminated against a boy with diabetes. It is now appealing the decision. It has already cost tens of thousands of pounds. In addition to financial costs, it takes at least six months before a tribunal meets to make a decision. That is six months of meetings, compiling evidence, filling in forms and anxiety and stress for all parties concerned.

A clear duty on schools will mean that staff are given the support and training they need to offer, with confidence, the care that children need and make the lives of parents, children and schools much easier. A duty will end the current outrageous situation whereby some children’s health is made worse or put at risk simply by attending school. All children should be given the best possible opportunity to reach their full potential at school. At the moment, far too many children with health conditions are denied the right. A duty will help them to reach their potential and allow them to play a full part in school life.

As I said at the start of my remarks, I am grateful to the Government and the noble Lord, Lord Nash, but I will probably push a little further on Report. I think that the amendment does not go quite far enough. I hope we can address the whole issue of relevant NHS bodies being fully engaged in the care plans of individual children. The amendment does not quite address that.

[Baroness Howarth of Breckland]

My Lords, I will be brief—I am sure that the Minister will be grateful for that—but I want to say two things at the beginning. First, the Minister needs to know that many organisations think that a great deal in the Bill is extremely welcome. The tone of the debate seems critical. I think that we have the number of amendments that we have simply because people care about the issue and have discussed it at length. I have met several organisations which have said how valuable a great deal of what is in the Bill is taking forward work with disabled children. I thought that we needed to have that on record while we are all complaining bitterly about the things that the Government have not done.

I shall speak to Amendment 220. Most of the points have been made, and I will not make a long, heartfelt tirade about the group that I care about. I just say that I work closely with children with congenital heart disease, children born with half a heart, many of them with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. They usually look like perfectly ordinary children but they are in serious difficulty when they get to school. I am therefore immensely grateful to see the Minister’s amendment but I ask that we see the regulations, because the devil will be in the detail as to whether it really meets the requirements. If we can see the regulations early, it might relieve the pain on Report, when people will otherwise want to speak at length again.

My other question is: once we have the regulation and the detail, how will families be able to complain without taking themselves through massive tribunal cases, as we know has happened? It might be worth the Government looking at how parents raise issues under the regulations when they feel that their needs have not been met, because that would save everybody pain. It is no use saying to ourselves that Ofsted will deal with that, because we know that it visits only every four years. Some children have been right through school and never seen an Ofsted inspection. If we could have some clarity on that, it would certainly speed things up.

--- Later in debate ---

In view of the points I have made and the amendment we have tabled, I hope the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

Looking at my Amendment 223 and the government amendment—I am very pleased with it—an omission is the NHS. My amendment places a duty on NHS bodies to co-operate with school governing bodies; the government amendment does not. I want to avoid coming back on this on Report. We are now so close to getting this. I do not want to find that the guidance is great and it all works fine, but that it all falls over because there are problems between the NHS and schools. Is the Minister prepared to facilitate a discussion between the NHS, the Department of Health and representatives here and elsewhere before Report to close that point? It would be wonderful.

[Lord Nash]

I am happy to stimulate that discussion. The guidance will make clear our expectation that schools, local authorities and health professions work together in the interests of the child. That is essential. I am happy to discuss this further with the noble Lord.

Young People: Personal Finances

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Thursday 7th February 2013 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that young people have a proper understanding of managing personal finances before leaving school.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools (Lord Nash)]

My Lords, I agree entirely with the sentiment underlying the noble Lord’s Question. The ability to manage one’s finances is a very important skill that all young people should have. The Question is also brilliantly timed as my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education is currently on his feet in another place, outlining the draft programmes of study for the national curriculum, among other things. The new national curriculum will place a renewed emphasis on mathematics, which itself will include a strong focus on arithmetic, money and percentages. In addition, citizenship will include a strong and specific emphasis on financial education.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

I thank the Minister for his reply. Leaving school with the skills, knowledge and confidence to manage money is vital—we agree about that. If those skills are not learnt in school they will probably never be learnt. I found out that the average age when a child makes their first purchase online is 10. What cross-departmental work is going on to ensure that those essential skills are learnt, and would he agree to meet me and some campaigners on the issue to discuss this in more depth and explore what can be done further?

[Lord Nash]

Specifically on online matters, child safeguarding and internet safety are both areas that the Government take very seriously. Schools will provide a grounding in that, but I will agree to meet the noble Lord and discuss this further.

Education: Children with Diabetes

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Tuesday 1st February 2011 Grand Committee

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all children with diabetes are able to benefit from an education at school.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

First, I declare that I have type 2 diabetes, having been diagnosed with the condition nearly two years ago. I am a member of the charity Diabetes UK and actively support its work.

I thank the Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Hill, for being here to respond to this debate. I am sure he has a busy diary and his attendance is very much appreciated. I am delighted that my noble friend Lady Young of Old Scone is also taking part. She is the chief executive of Diabetes UK, and I think it is fair to say that we are all looking forward to her informed contribution to this debate. I also look forward to the maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord Lexden.

Too many children with type 1 diabetes get a raw deal at school. Many of our children are excluded from school trips or social events; they are excluded from PE lessons; they are prevented from eating the snacks they need when they need them; they are denied access to their medicines when they need them because they are “safely locked away”; and they experience bullying. Many young children are also left to inject insulin themselves, leading to increased fear and anxiety for their parents. It is therefore not just the children with diabetes who get a raw deal; their parents do too.

As well as the worry that parents feel for their children, many are forced to give up work because schools refuse support if a child is unaccompanied by a parent. Diabetes UK continually hears from parents who are unable to work because they have to go into school to administer medicine. Diabetes UK also continually hears from parents who have to fight for basic support from a school and they do not always get it. Some children have even been forced to move schools. They have heart-breaking stories, and there is an emotional and financial strain on families.

At this point, I congratulate Diabetes UK, which has established an advocacy service offering vital help for families struggling with these issues. Diabetes UK deals with around 100 enquiries a month. I also commend the charity for its long-running efforts to improve the lives of all children with diabetes at school.

Noble Lords may ask: why does this issue matter when only a small number of children live with type l diabetes? However, it is not a small number. More than half of our schools have children with diabetes. In recent times, childhood obesity and poor food choices leading to type 2 diabetes have been the focus of attention. While these issues should not be ignored, only 1,400 children in the UK have that form of diabetes. However, 20,000 children under the age of 15 have type 1 diabetes. Its incidence is increasing, particularly in the under-fives, where the number affected has increased fivefold over the past two decades. Two thousand children are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes every year.

Children with diabetes have as much right as any other children to a decent quality of education and school experience, yet their school experience varies greatly from no school support and very patchy support to good, child-centred provision. Many of our schools are failing to help children with diabetes to participate fully in learning and school life. Worse still, a lack of education among pupils, parents and teachers leads to bullying and children struggling to fit in. That increases their anxiety about being “different”—a feeling which could affect their confidence level in school and throughout life.

David, a boy from a school in Northamptonshire who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was three, got upset when a girl told him that she was not allowed to play with him in case she caught his diabetes. Another boy used to call him “Diabetes Boy”. He remembers how he was not invited to play at his friends' houses, as their parents were scared that they could not deal properly with his diabetes if they needed to.

Children with type 1 diabetes are at risk of heart disease, blindness, amputations and kidney failure, so proper control of their condition is imperative. It is vital to keep their blood sugar regulated, avoiding fluctuations. Regular blood-sugar tests and injections, sometimes up to four or five times a day, are necessary to avoid life-threatening complications. These tests and injections have to take place during school. It is not a choice; it is a necessity. Insulin, via injection or pump, sometimes several times a day, is vital for life. At a school in Warwickshire, Jane, a young girl, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 11. She was told not to inject herself in public as it was “disgusting”, but these injections have to take place during the school day.

Too many schools are uncomfortable about dealing with children with diabetes. Another school was not treating a six year-old’s “hypos” when they occurred, nor telling the child’s parents. It also refused to do the blood glucose monitoring test because staff felt too squeamish.

Many schools lack knowledge and have a fear of liability. In one school, although it had a nurse to assist children with diabetes, children were excluded when the nurse was on leave or absent, and pupils were made to wait outside the school gates until the nurse arrived each morning. There are some reports of schools expecting parents to ignore clinical advice and change a child’s testing and injection regime to suit the schools’ scheduling. Surely this should be the other way round.

Five year-olds banned from school sports days; schools refusing to hold supplies of insulin or blood-testing kits; worse still, schools refusing to have children with diabetes in their classes; a nurse refusing treatment to a toddler—the list of shocking accounts goes on. Some schools believe that administering medicine is not their responsibility. A Diabetes UK survey showed that, although more than half of schools were aware that they had pupils with diabetes, 70 per cent required either that such children injected themselves or that their parents came in to do it. Only 16 per cent allowed staff to test and give medicines to pupils.

That is why more than 80 per cent of five to 11 year-old children with diabetes are failing to achieve good control of their condition. This is the worst level in Europe. It means increased health problems for our children and worsening health as they enter adulthood. It is a preventable strain on the resources of the NHS and a preventable level of suffering.

We should have policies and procedures that protect our children, not put their health at risk. Too many children struggle to keep their diabetes under control. Schools need to be part of the solution, not the cause of the problem. They have a vital part to play in supporting the daily management of diabetes in children.

There are some great schools which support children with diabetes very well. The right attitude and leadership at a school can make a huge difference. Their good practice needs to become standard practice in all schools. All children with diabetes should be known to the school, with individual care plans prepared with the child, parent, doctor and teacher. Good practice involves a positive school attitude, a child-centred approach and a high level of training for the staff. The aim in every school, or at least every school with a child with diabetes, should be to train all teachers and support staff. Government need to be proactive and strengthen existing legislation so that children with diabetes or any health condition are recognised as a vulnerable group and their well-being is properly supported.

The plight faced by children with diabetes at school exemplifies fundamental failings in public policy, bringing health and education together at a national and local level. Effective partnerships need to be built, and schools need to be required to provide staff training so that teachers have the confidence to support children with diabetes properly and ensure that the guidance is followed. Inspection is the key to ensuring the proper implementation of policies and procedures. We need to establish standards in schools for the support of children with specific health conditions and place a duty on Ofsted to monitor whether that is provided.

Do the Government know the number of children in our schools with long-term conditions and the numbers for each condition? It is only with accurate information that the Government can know the amount and type of support needed to plan accordingly. As Ed Balls, Labour’s former Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, said, we want this to be the best place for children to grow up. That is why Every Child Matters. Every child needs the chance to fulfil their full potential.

In conclusion, I ask the Minister to agree to meet the delegation from Diabetes UK and myself to explore what can be done to improve the situation. I do not believe that this involves huge costs; rather, it involves a willingness and a desire to see the situation improved. As Daniel at age five said: “I like school, but school doesn’t like me”.