Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support the introduction of defibrillators into public buildings.

The Government encourages organisations, including schools, to consider purchasing a defibrillator as part of their first-aid equipment, particularly for places where there are high concentrations of people.

Automated external defibrillators are currently available for schools and other education providers in the United Kingdom to purchase through NHS Supply Chain at a reduced cost. These arrangements are available to all UK schools, including academies and independent schools, sixth-form colleges, further education institutions and early years settings (including holiday and out-of-school providers). These arrangements have been in place since November 2014.

The NHS Long Term Plan states fast and effective action will help save the lives of people suffering a cardiac arrest, and key measures include:

- a national network of community first responders and defibrillators will help save up to 4,000 lives each year by 2028, which will be supported by educating the general public, including young people of school age, about how to recognise and respond to out of hospital cardiac arrest;

- NHS England will also work with partners such as the British Heart Foundation to harness new technology and ensure that the public and emergency services are able to rapidly locate defibrillators in an emergency; and

- more effective mapping of data on incidence will help direct community initiatives to areas where they are most needed, and the British Heart Foundation-funded national Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Registry, based in Warwick, will allow NHS England to track survival rates and target unwarranted variation.

NHS England will continue to work closely with key partners and stakeholders, including the British Heart Foundation, as it supports the National Health Service to deliver the commitments set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.