Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make resources available to support the wide-scale roll-out of automated external defibrillators in schools across England.

All new and refurbished state funded schools are required to have at least one defibrillator installed on their premises. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, discussed this important issue in the House of Commons this week and said: ‘It was incredibly moving to speak to Mark King and listen to his tragic experience of losing his son, Oliver – he was joined by Jamie Carragher as well. It really does focus us on the need to do as much as possible to encourage schools to have defibrillators. That is why we will look at changing the regulations, which are underpinned by legislation, to ensure that all schools have defibrillators in the future and hopefully prevent such a tragedy visiting more families.’

Defibrillators are currently available for schools and other education providers in the UK to purchase through the 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.

The department wants as many schools as possible to have this equipment and we are exploring all available options to see what more we can do.