Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill debated in Parliament

The second reading of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill in Parliament was read in Parliament yesterday.

The government stated that major reforms to protect thousands of vulnerable children hidden from sight would take another crucial step forward.

A second reading is the first opportunity for MPs to debate the main principles of the bill. It usually takes place no sooner than two weekends after first reading.

At the end of the debate, the Commons decides whether the bill should be given its second reading by voting, meaning it can proceed to the next stage.

The government said that measures to reform children’s social care and help reduce the number of children missing education that are being introduced in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill include:

• All councils will be required to hold a register of children who are not in school. Councils will be able to require parents and providers of out of school education to share information like name, address and the nature of the education children are being provided
• A unique number for every child – in the same way every adult has their own national insurance number – to join up systems and make sure no child falls through the cracks.
• The removal of the automatic right for parents to educate children at home if their child is subject to a child protection investigation or under a child protection plan. Schools will need to check with the local authority where a parent asks to remove a child from school to home educate, to establish whether the local authority’s consent should be obtained
• If any child’s home environment is assessed as unsuitable or unsafe, local authorities will have the power to intervene and require school attendance
• Making sure every council operates best practice ‘multi-agency’ safeguarding panels, that bring together all the professionals that can best make sure children are kept safe both inside and outside the home.

In response to the second reading of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, Mark Russell, chief executive of The Children’s Society, said: “The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill represents a positive first step in the right direction for children’s wellbeing.

“It covers many crucial areas and includes action we have long called for to better safeguard children from harm, such as the need for a unique identifier for every child in the UK to improve information sharing in the best interests of children and their protection. 

“We have campaigned for years to make school uniform cheaper and we welcome the changes to reduce the financial burden on families from school uniform costs.

“If we want to genuinely transform children’s wellbeing we need to measure it, so we are pleased to see that the national wellbeing measurement was mentioned in the debate today and are keen to see it continue as the bill progresses.

“This development would ensure that future policies reflect children’s needs and are shaped by their voices. It would also provide a vital tool to assess and understand the impact on children’s wellbeing.”