Briefing for MPs on Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is urgent. The death of Sara Sharif and the recent resurfacing of the crimes by grooming gangs have further highlighted that too many services children rely on are failing – whether that is children missing out on the benefits of school and education, or children living in social care who, instead of getting the care they deserve, grow up in illegal children’s homes. 

The Bill lays the foundations for change for these children. Importantly, it aims to improve the systems that children rely on, as well as the services they receive. The Children’s Commissioner has called on successive governments to introduce a unique identifying number for children and a register of all children not in school. Writing these two landmark measures into law will be of huge significance for every children in this country, but especially those at risk of harm.  

There will be a need for further legislation in this Parliament that is focussed on children, not least for those in need of support for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. But let’s be clear: this Bill is a huge opportunity to safeguard children who are at risk of serious harm or abuse, to better support children with complex needs, and to be assured that children currently hidden or missed by public services are able to get the help and protection they need.  

Many of the provisions in the Bill will specifically – and significantly – help those children. However, there are some areas the Children’s Commissioner would like to see go further. First, this is the opportunity to give children the same protection from assault as adults in England. The Bill should send a clear message to children that the state is there to protect them and should eliminate any shades of grey that leave parents, carers, professionals and children themselves uncertain about what level of violence is acceptable in their lives.   

Secondly, some of the most vulnerable children in the country are living in illegal children’s homes or having their liberty deprived without proper safeguards. This legislation is an opportunity to bring an end to both.  

Thirdly, the Commissioner warmly welcome the introduction of a register of children not in school. However, the Bill should go further to both improve the support for children in home education and to introduce a clear national framework for data sharing so that local Children Missing Education teams can quickly identify and support children who are missing from education to return swiftly and with the right support. 

Finally, the Commissioner would like to see provisions to protect children at a known risk of harm strengthened further. That should include a requirement to obtain consent from the local authority before a child is removed from school, in any case where a child has been referred to social services for a Child in Need or Child Protection enquiry in the last 12 months, and where the primary need was abuse or neglect. Where children have a Child in Need Plan or a Child Protection Plan, for these reasons, these plans should always include a named school.  

For these children, this significant legislation cannot come quickly enough. This briefing sets out the priority areas of action for the Children’s Commissioner’s office. Over the coming months the office will be monitoring the progress of the Bill, sharing further insights from children, and sharing more specific recommendations for the Bill with parliamentarians to ensure we firmly grip this opportunity to improve children’s lives – and prevent any repeat of the horrors we have seen in headlines all too recently, and all too frequently.  

The Children’s Commissioner is offering MPs the opportunity to speak to her and her team in more detail about any of the issues around the Bill that are covered in her briefing.