The Government’s “Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill” has been debated in parliament this week, it’s second reading has taken place. The aim of the bill is to reform practices to help tackle the issue of children vanishing from education and to prevent exploitation, grooming and abuse. Greater powers and responsibilities will be given to councils for ensuring the educational provision is suitable for each child, directing academies to admit children (with the right for the academy to appeal), greater influence over PANs and the authorisation for to open new schools, in recent times this has been non-council schools only.
Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson has said:
“Keeping children safe will always be my first duty as education secretary, but we can only truly do that if we know where our children are. The sad reality is that at the moment there are thousands of children hidden from sight.
This government will make no apologies for doing whatever is necessary to keep children out of harm’s way, and I will not stand by while some young people fall through the cracks, left without a good education and vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
This landmark bill is a crucial step forward in our mission to protect all children, while also supporting parents by putting more money in their pockets as we deliver our Plan for Change and give all children the best start in life.”
Each child will have a unique identifying number. This will help with sharing information across agencies, Education settings are to be included in multi-agency child protection arrangements.
Councils are required to hold “children not in schools” registers and will have a duty to support parents of children who receive some or all of their education outside of school. Where necessary, councils will be asked to provide consent for parents to “home educate” and can require children on protection orders to attend school, checking suitability. This will be a national standard of suitability.
So what does this mean for academies and multi-academy trusts (MATs)? The new bill puts limitations on academies for introducing curriculums outside of the national curriculum and using their own pay framework outside of the national teacher pay and conditions framework. Further guidance and time to establish what this will be is likely to follow. New teachers joining academies must either have or be working towards QTS, expected to take effect in September 2026, again further guidance to follow. Many MATs have grown in academy numbers due to the issue of academy orders for “inadequate” LA maintained schools; the new bill proposes that such schools will not necessarily result in academisation but where there is the possibility of sufficient improvements, new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams will provide support.
Private schools are also a specific focus of the new bill with the requirement for a “fit and proper” person test for anyone wishing to open a new private school and closer government involvement with inspections and approval necessary for any “material changes”.
All children attending state-funded primary schools are to have access to free 30-minute breakfast club, with a trial starting as soon as April 2025. A limit of three branded items of uniform is to be set. These measures will help those families who struggle financially. Other school matters are also included in this Bill, there are a total of 39 policies in total, some to come into effect sooner than others.
Some of these policies will be subject to change as consultation continues. At FusionHR we will keep up to date on developments and the impact the new bill will have on our customers. Keep an eye on our website and social media channels for webinars, blogs and other resources that may help you through the changes the bill, if passed, will bring to your setting.
