The Equality Act, the Children Act and the NHS Act are the relevant legislation, but I will provide further details and more granularity on that. I repeat that the Bill is about educational needs—but we will go away to consider this further.
On categories of children who are not covered by existing legislation, the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, made the point about physiotherapy and missing school, among others. I would like to understand more about whether, in the modern day, children to which she referred would be covered by the Bill or existing legislation. In response to the concerns expressed by my noble friend Lord Storey about whether special educational provision includes provision to enable children to access education, the answer is yes. I will write to him with more details.
The noble Baroness, Lady Howe, asked whether the code of practice is intended to marry up with the Equality Act. The answer is that it does. We believe that it does—and we are clear that we must make appropriate links between SEN and the Equality Act duties in the code of practice, and are happy to look again at the scope for improving the draft code of practice on this.
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The noble Baronesses, Lady Howe and Lady Young, asked what would happen if a school failed in its duties. The statutory guidance will give a clear signal to schools that supporting pupils with medical conditions is important. It will make it clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the needs of pupils with medial conditions. Parents will be able to raise concerns though schools’ complaints procedures, and I will talk to Ofsted about this to reinforce the point. I am sorry to disappoint the noble Baroness, but I do not tweet and, even if I were capable of doing so, frankly, I do not have the time at the moment.
The noble Lord, Lord Patel, made a point about training. Children with complex health needs must be supported, and school staff have an important role to play. It is right that they look to health bodies for training to do it properly, and guidance will address this. The Department of Health is working to implement the vision set out in Getting it Right for Children, Young People and Families: Maximising the contribution of the School Nursing Team: Vision and Call to Action. We are working with it as we develop the statutory guidance.
The noble Lord also made points about children suffering from cancer. Cancer is a medical condition and will be covered by the duty and guidance. We will work with stakeholders and would welcome the advice of the noble Lord to ensure that we have guidance which supports that.
My noble friend Lady Brinton asked about websites in schools. My school has a website called “Health Matters”, which is run by the nurse. It is excellent, and I would be happy to discuss it further with my noble friend. It is an example of best practice that we may want to advertise to other schools.
The noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, asked who is the Minister for Child Development. Improving outcomes for children is a key concern of the Secretary of State for Education but, as the Bill stresses, we need a joined-up system across government. That is why the Bill includes new duties for local authorities to plan and commission services for children and young people with SEN.
My department has been working closely with other departments to develop the Bill, the code of practice and regulations, but I agree that it is important that we ensure that, when enacted, the Bill is properly executed and that we do not just pass the Bill, retire to our bunkers and hope for the best. We must focus closely on its implementation.
I would like to clarify a point I made to the noble Lord, Lord Storey, about whether the legislation will apply to free schools and academies. It will, but early years are covered separately by the EYFS.
In view of the points I have made and the amendment we have tabled, I hope the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment.