Children and Families Bill

Baroness Young of Old Scone Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Young of Old Scone]

My Lords, I was interested to hear how moved the Minister was by his visit yesterday. I now invite him on another visit, this time to a family who have just experienced a major struggle to get adequate support in school for their son who has type 1 diabetes. I declare an interest as the chief executive of Diabetes UK. However, I am speaking not only on behalf of children and families with diabetes but on behalf of the one million children in this country who have long-term health conditions, such as asthma, heart disease, migraine and epilepsy, who require and often do not get extra support at school.

Several noble Lords have already highlighted the absence of provision in the Bill for this important group. The Health Conditions in Schools Alliance, an alliance of 36 national charities across a wide range of health conditions, has collected evidence from children and parents. We hear about children being excluded from school activities and made to feel isolated and different at a time when they need to feel that they are fitting in. Their academic attainment suffers and, in some cases, their very health or survival is put at risk with crises in their condition being unsupported. In many cases, parents have to give up work or work reduced hours, with serious financial implications for their families and, indeed, for the economy.

Let me give examples. There are 29,000 children in this country with type 1 diabetes. In 70% of cases where a child is unable to inject insulin on their own behalf or where an insulin pump needs simple checks, parents are required to go into schools to provide this simple care. Some 59% of schools do not have a policy of advising staff on how to give medication. There are 63,000 children and young people with epilepsy but less than 40% of schools have an epilepsy policy. Indeed, recently the Children’s Commissioner has criticised ad hoc exclusion of children from schools as the result of long-term medical conditions. Often when schools think that they cannot cope, they simply send the child home.

I should not be critical of all schools because many schools provide excellent support to these children but, distressingly, others do not. It is intriguing that very often that involves neighbouring schools in the same local educational area. So it is not an issue of money, staff or skills—it is a failure of commitment. It is often left to the interest or motivation of a head or a particular teacher. This kind of postcode lottery is unacceptable.

During the debate on the Bill in the other place, the Government spokesman agreed that in some schools support for children with health conditions is below the level we should be seeing and that every effort needs to be made to improve practice on the ground. However, wishing things to be better will not make them happen. We now have a long and deep experience that shows that for those schools which do not voluntarily do the right thing by these children, a statutory requirement is now needed.

I am sure the Minister will have been briefed that the Children Act 1989, the Education Act 2002 and the Equality Act 2010 provide sufficient legislative framework. I simply say that they have not so far. Too many schools have failed to follow the existing guidance given on supporting children with health conditions. I could introduce the Minister, were he in visit mode, to some of the families who have had to fight to get rights through using this legislation. However, for every family that has the tenacity, intelligence and resource to fight that case, there are tens or hundreds who do not.

I would like the Minister to meet some of these families but, more importantly, I invite him also to adopt the amendments tabled on this issue in the other place and lay a statutory duty on schools to have a plan for the support for such children. It is not too much to ask for a million vulnerable children. It will help the Government to meet their ambition of ensuring that all children and young people can succeed whatever their background.

Perhaps I may briefly raise the issue of another omission from the Bill. It may look a bit off the wall, but here goes. The Minister will be acutely aware that the Government failed to include in the Queen’s Speech a provision for the introduction of plain packaging for cigarettes and tobacco products, despite the considerable weight of evidence. We are still waiting. Standard packs are designed to protect children and young people from taking up smoking. This Bill is an opportunity to correct that omission. Why not, Minister?