Lord Nash is expected to table the amendment to the Bill tomorrow, which is currently at the Committee stage at the House of Lords.
The amendment will mean that all schools will have a legal duty to make appropriate arrangements for supporting pupils with long-term health conditions such as Type 1 diabetes, epilepsy and asthma.
New statutory guidance will also be issued to schools next year.
It follows a campaign by Diabetes UK and other charities to introduce a legal duty on schools to support children with long-term health needs.
According to the charity, under the current system children with long-term health needs do not always get the additional support in school they need as a result of their condition.
It also says that while some schools already offer excellent support for children with health conditions, there are many examples where children experience avoidable ill health and are effectively excluded from fully participating in their education and hindered in meeting their full academic potential.
While Diabetes UK has welcomed the amendment, it has warned that it will only make a difference to children with long-term health conditions if schools are supported by clear and appropriate statutory guidance to help them understand what they need to do and how to do it.
The charity is now working with the Government to ensure that the guidance includes plans to put in place appropriate policies, individual care plans and training and support for school staff.
Caroline Moore, Diabetes UK director for planning and support services, said, ‘We are delighted Lord Nash has listened to our concerns and recognises that too many children with health conditions such as Type 1 diabetes are currently being excluded from participating in normal school life because their schools do not understand their condition and are not able to support them. Lord Nash’s decision will bring real hope to many families who are struggling to get the support they need.
‘Schools will need to work with parents, local authorities and health services so they have a policy and individual health care plans in place. The fact that some education providers do this at the moment shows that it can be done, but unless this guidance is in place there is a risk that the announcement of the statutory duty will be a false dawn rather than the better tomorrow that children with long-term health conditions deserve.’
Kay Boycott, chief executive of Asthma UK, said, 'We can’t overstate the importance of the Government putting a duty on schools to support children with medical conditions.
'On average, two children in every classroom in the UK are living with asthma and just a quarter of teachers say they would feel completely confident knowing what to do if a pupil had an asthma attack. This is putting children’s lives at risk on a daily basis and needs to be urgently addressed by introducing individual care plans and training for teachers on implementing them as part of a medical conditions policy for every school.'
Last week, the Government announced it is to consult on the recommendation that schools be allowed to keep a spare inhaler and spacer device for emergencies when children do not have their own inhaler, after campaigning by Asthma UK and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Asthma.
Current regulations set by the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency prevent schools from keeping a spare reliever inhaler (salbutamol) because it is a prescription-only medicine to be administered to the individual who was prescribed it.
A survey by Asthma UK last year of more than 200 children with the condition found that nearly two-thirds have had an asthma attack at school.
It also revealed that 64 per cent of the children had at some point been unable to access a working inhaler while at school, having either forgotten, lost, broken or run out of their own.
