Committee publication · Correspondence · 14 July 2026
Letter to Minister for School Standards on Healthcare Provision in Education Settings, dated 14.07.26
From: Education Committee
Summary
The Education Committee writes to the Minister for School Standards seeking clarification on healthcare delegation in schools. The Committee notes apparent inconsistency between Government statements that schools are not healthcare providers and a commitment to publish guidance on delegating healthcare tasks to school staff. It requests urgent clarification on the statutory basis, scope, and governance implications of such delegation.
Key findings
- Government correspondence states NHS is responsible for health needs of diagnosed conditions and schools are not healthcare providers, but separate Government response commits to guidance enabling delegation of healthcare tasks to school staff.
- Education unions highlight that section 21(5) of the Children and Families Act 2014 covers only narrow circumstances and does not establish blanket authority for healthcare delegation across education settings.
- Committee expresses concern that delegation-focused guidance risks shifting responsibility from NHS to schools for healthcare needs not currently being met by NHS services.
- Committee identifies unresolved questions on statutory basis for delegation, governance across employer boundaries, accountability, indemnity, clinical oversight, and workforce implications including pay and terms.
- Committee requests consultation with education and health unions, employer bodies, NHS commissioners, regulators, and parent/carer organisations before guidance publication.
Tone
CriticalTopics
Key actors
Helen Hayes MP, Georgia Gould OBE MP, Education Committee, Department for Education, Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, Education unions, Local authorities
Notable line
“… guidance framed primarily around delegation risks shifting discussion from how the NHS should meet children and young people's healthcare needs within educational settings to how schools can address needs that …”
Key Quotes
“We have some concern that these responses are inconsistent with each other and therefore request that the Government clarifies how and under what circumstances healthcare responsibilities can safely be delegated.”
“… the NHS is responsible for meeting the health needs of people diagnosed with an illness or medical condition including long term conditions”
“The Government response to the recommendation in my Committee's SEND report appears to assume that delegation to staff employed in education settings is already legally and organisationally established, and this assumption is precisely the concern that a wide range of education and local authority staff are highlighting.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗