Written Question

Pupils: Allergies

Friday 3rd May 2024

Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether teachers and administrators are clear about the support their schools should provide to children with allergies, and what monitoring and evaluation processes they have in place to ensure this support is provided.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

In 2014, the government introduced a new duty on schools to support pupils with all medical conditions, including allergies, and published the ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ statutory guidance for schools and others.

Schools also have duties under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments to their practices, procedures, and policies to ensure that they are not putting those with certain long-term health problems at a substantial disadvantage.

The department recently reminded all schools of their legal duty under Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to plan for supporting pupils with medical conditions, including allergies. This reminder also included a link to the statutory guidance governing bodies must have regard to when carrying out their duty under Section 100.

Ofsted’s role is to make sure that schools provide a high standard of education through its inspection and reporting process. As part of that process, inspectors gather a wide range of evidence to make their judgements, including the evaluation of the experience of particular individuals and groups. This includes the experiences of pupils with medical needs.

As part of the inspection, inspectors will assess the effectiveness of safeguarding at the school. This includes the extent to which pupils with specific needs and vulnerabilities are kept safe. The safeguarding culture is also explored through speaking to leaders and staff about their work, including the messages that pupils receive through the curriculum.

---

Departmental Publication (Policy paper)
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

May. 02 2024

Source Page: UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, UK Domestic Advisory Group: 2024 to 2025 priorities report
Document: (PDF)

Found: Monitoring Authority has previously expressed concern about the identification and support of looked after children

---

Departmental Publication (Statistics)
Cabinet Office

May. 02 2024

Source Page: Freedom of Information statistics: October to December 2023
Document: (webpage)

Found: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Q3 2013 Department for Children

---

Non-Departmental Publication (Statistics)
Department of Health (Northern Ireland)

May. 02 2024

Source Page: Quarterly autism statistics for NI (January - March 2024)
Document: Quarterly autism statistics for NI (January - March 2024) (webpage)

Found: Quarterly autism statistics for NI (January - March 2024) These tables set out the number and rate of children

---

---

---

---

---

---

Deposited Papers

May. 02 2024

Source Page: Letter dated 24/04/2024 from Viscount Camrose to Lords regarding questions raised during the Committee staage of the Data Protection and Digital Information (DPDI) Bill (fourth and fifth days): enforcement action for violations of international transfer rules, Ofcom’s role in regulating researcher’s access to data, ICO complaints and redress, Digital verification systems (DVS), inclusive access to services, adequacy and reporting, Lords European Affairs Committee inquiry on EU-UK data adequacy, House of Commons Committee Stage, biometrics
Document: Viscount_Camrose_Will_Write.pdf (PDF)

Found: risks of harm to individuals arising from in -scope illegal content and content that is harmful to children

---