Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to (a) mandate allergy safety policies in all schools, (b) ensure the provision of individual healthcare plans for every child with an allergy, (c) mandate staff training on (i) allergy awareness, (ii) anaphylaxis management and (iii) responding to emergencies involving allergies in schools and (d) mandate the provision of emergency adrenaline auto-injectors in every school.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance on ‘Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school’ makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.

Schools should ensure they are aware of any pupils with medical conditions and have policies and processes in place to ensure these can be well managed. Policies should set out how staff will be supported in carrying out their role to support pupils, including how training needs are assessed and how training is commissioned and provided. Any member of school staff providing support to a pupil with medical needs should have received suitable training.

The statutory guidance recommends the use of individual healthcare plans as good practice for pupils with medical conditions, providing clarity about what needs to be done, when and by whom.

Schools can purchase spare adrenaline auto-injectors from a pharmacy without a prescription and for use in an emergency situation.