Update: Government announces that Benedict’s Law to become law in England

Yesterday in the House of Commons, Minister Bailey announced that the government will be introducing an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that will see Benedict’s Law written into law, requiring all schools in England to have an allergy safety policy, and giving the Education secretary the power to introduce additional regulations on allergy safety.

Announced in response to Baroness Coates’ amendment, on the crucial issue of allergy safety, Minister Bailey rose to pay tribute to the tireless work of Helen and Peter Blythe and the Benedict Blythe Foundation, calling their campaigning both brave and instrumental. She went further, reflecting that the government recognised their arguments about allergy safety requiring the strongest protections, and that consequently:

“(She was) pleased to confirm, with Helen in the Gallery, that we will put Benedict’s law on the statute book, with (the government’s) own amendment to require schools to have and publish an allergy safety policy, to have regard to statutory guidance and to give powers to the Secretary of State to make regulations relating to allergy safety. This will protect children with allergies in schools and ensure that our guidance can evolve as clinical advice changes.”

When asked by Alicia Kearns MP, who proposed the amendment that led to this, whether she could “reassure us that (we) will see the amendment at the very earliest opportunity before it goes to the Lords, so we can ensure that Benedict’s law is delivered in full?”, Minister Bailey commented “absolutely, I can give that assurance.”

The recognition of the importance of allergy safety by the government, through the announcement of Benedict’s Law becoming law, and through the recently announced statutory guidance being developed on “supporting children and young people with medical conditions and allergy”, reflects growing awareness of the scale of the national allergy crisis.

We are heartened by the long overdue steps being taken to better the lives of the allergic community, and Allergy UK are grateful to the government for this pivotal step forward, and to the tireless work of the Benedict Blythe foundation and its supporters in campaigning for this key work. We will continue to advocate for better for the allergic community, but last night marks a major step forward.