Benedict's Law - What does it mean for education providers?

Who was Benedict?

Benedict Blythe was a five year old boy who very sadly passed away following an anaphylactic reaction at school. At inquest, the jury determined that the his death resulted from an accidental exposure to an allergen – cow’s milk protein – in spite of a number of preventative measures already being in place, and that there had been a delay in administering adrenalin.

Benedict’s family have campaigned to update guidance regarding allergy risk in schools and to introduce new legislative requirements to ensure that safeguards are observed.

What is required?

At present, the Government is consulting (https://consult.education.gov.uk/medical-conditions-at-school/medical-conditions-at-school-statutory-guidance/) on draft guidance which it is expected will be come into force in September.

It is anticipated that the finalised guidance will require every educational setting will have a published medical conditions policy and that it will strengthen measures regarding Individual Healthcare Plans, incident and near miss reporting and introduce a new requirement for publication of an allergy safety policy. Schools will also be required to stock ‘spare’ adrenalin pens, to provide training for staff in relation to allergy awareness and use of adrenalin devices.

Current requirements come from a variety of sources including section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 (Duty of an appropriate authority to support pupils with medical conditions by making appropriate arrangements) and the Food Information Regulations 2014 (requirements regarding labelling of food) but current guidance is limited. The new guidelines, when issued, will be issued under section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

The 2015 guidance ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ which is to be updated by the present consultation whilst it does contain measures regarding policies, training and individual healthcare plans, is broad in scope, containing no specific requirements as to allergy risk.

However, guidance published on gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools/allergy-guidance-for-schools)  references a comprehensive range of other sources of information and best practice (including model policies and an assortment of links and fact sheets to assist in dealing with severe reactions and management of allergic conditions).

Do we need to wait for the guidance to come into force in September?

The risks arising from allergic reactions are well publicised and recognised. We would encourage any organisation aware of a risk to address it – whether allergy risk or risk from any other source – in order to fulfil their general legal obligations arising from both safety legislation and common law.

Best practice in safety involves implementation of both statutory requirements and learnings from wider industry. Whilst the new measures are still in consultation, it would be prudent to consider and implement appropriate measures in line with existing published guidance with a mind to anticipated changes as set out in the current consultation.