Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what regulations cover the provision of school nurses in (a) local authority schools, (b) private schools and (c) free schools.

The delivery of nursing services within publicly-funded schools is for local determination, and commissioning is led by local authorities. In some areas schools have co-commissioned additional services based on the health needs of the population within their school or locality. Guidance on commissioning school nursing services for local authorities, published by the Department of Health, is available online at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/303769/Service_specifications.pdf

School nursing services are monitored by the Care Quality Commission in terms of the quality of provision in an area, but the commission does not monitor individual settings or the extent to which individual schools engage with the service.

In terms of nursing provision in independent schools, there is no specific requirement for such schools to have nurses or for staff to have particular qualifications. If nursing is provided, regulatory requirements relating to the health and welfare of pupils – and also boarding welfare if the school has boarding provision – are relevant.

No assessment of the quality of nursing services in independent schools has been made.