Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, why respondents were only asked about Automated External Defibrillators purchased within the last four years in her Department’s most recent survey on school defibrillator provision.

The Department’s defibrillator roll out, to all state funded schools in England without access to a defibrillator, began on 20 January 2023.

The Department’s defibrillator survey asked schools a small number of questions to establish if they needed a defibrillator. This included asking if they had a device that was over four years old. This is because defibrillators typically have a five year warranty and the Department wanted to ensure no school would be left without provision. To support schools, the Department has secured an eight year warranty and support package for the devices it is providing.

The Department’s defibrillator programme is targeted at schools. The Department will ensure defibrillators are available to over nine million pupils, visitors to schools and over 950,000 adults working in the school sector. NHS England, academic experts, and leading charities were all consulted in the development of the specification to ensure the device selected was suitable for both schools and communities. Each school will make the decision on whether to provide public use of their defibrillator. New guidance has been produced to support schools which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1130210/Automated_External_Defibrillators_Guidance_jan_23.pdf.

The Department does not hold records on community provision of defibrillators. Over half of schools responded to the defibrillator survey, with approximately 60% of schools indicating they did not have a defibrillator or that their device was over four years old. The Department’s roll out is expected to be completed by the end of the 2022/23 academic year, ensuring that all state funded schools in England have access to a defibrillator. The latest information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement laid before both Houses on 20 January 2023, available here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-01-20/hcws506.