Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a national standard for paediatric nurse staffing levels in SEND schools.

Individual schools are responsible for decisions about their staffing. Information on the school workforce, including the number of support staff employed by schools, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

Maintained schools have a statutory duty under section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to “make arrangements” to meet the health needs of their pupils. Schools must ensure that pupils with medical conditions have full access to education, including school trips and physical education. In doing so, schools must have regard to the 'Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school' statutory guidance, issued by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. This guidance can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.

Paediatric nurses are commissioned by the NHS. They are considered as part of the ‘NHS Long Term Workforce Plan’, more on which can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-long-term-workforce-plan/. The department is working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to clarify the responsibilities expected of schools as part of our wider special educational needs and disabilities reforms.