Recommendations & Conclusions
13 items
2
Conclusion
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Not Addressed
The Government did not, in this case, publish the Bill in draft. Nonetheless, the Bill’s timetable could have factored in time for our Committee to come to a considered view on its contents. Although the Minister for School Standards had written to us of her wish to “work closely” with …
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The Government did not, in this case, publish the Bill in draft. Nonetheless, the Bill’s timetable could have factored in time for our Committee to come to a considered view on its contents. Although the Minister for School Standards had written to us of her wish to “work closely” with the Committee, no allowance was made for select committee scrutiny in the Bill’s extremely compressed timetable. (Conclusion, Paragraph 7)
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Government response AI summary
The government defends its decision not to publish the Bill in draft and its compressed timetable, stating it aligns with legislative programme requirements and seeks to progress landmark reforms quickly.
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Department for Education
3
Conclusion
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Rejected
The Government has neither followed its own guidelines, nor engaged as productively as we would have liked with our Committee over this Bill. The interval between introduction and Second Reading was not long enough for proper preparation by Members of the House. The publication of the Impact Assessment over a …
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The Government has neither followed its own guidelines, nor engaged as productively as we would have liked with our Committee over this Bill. The interval between introduction and Second Reading was not long enough for proper preparation by Members of the House. The publication of the Impact Assessment over a month after the Bill was introduced and halfway through the consideration of the Bill in Committee, shows scant regard for the House. The decision not to involve our Committee in pre-legislative scrutiny, or even to give us prior notice of the Bill’s publication, has made it more difficult for us to conduct proper scrutiny of the Bill. Had we been involved at an earlier stage, we could have fed our findings into the Bill itself and this process would also have allowed the Government to respond to issues raised by stakeholders in advance of Second Reading. (Conclusion, Paragraph 11)
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects the Committee's criticisms of its engagement and adherence to guidelines, stating it gave due consideration to the legislative process, provided briefings, and that the Bill's timing was in line with guidance for progressing manifesto commitments quickly.
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Department for Education
4
Recommendation
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Not Addressed
We recommend that the Government undertakes to follow the Cabinet Office Guide to Making Legislation and engage meaningfully, and in a timely way, with select committees as a way of improving policy making and building consensus on important legislation. We further recommend that the Government provide a memorandum to the …
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We recommend that the Government undertakes to follow the Cabinet Office Guide to Making Legislation and engage meaningfully, and in a timely way, with select committees as a way of improving policy making and building consensus on important legislation. We further recommend that the Government provide a memorandum to the Liaison Committee demonstrating how it plans to engage with select committees on legislation over the Parliament. (Recommendation, Paragraph 12) 26
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Government response AI summary
The government's response defends its past engagement process for the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill but does not address the recommendation to commit to following engagement guidelines with select committees more meaningfully in the future or to provide a memorandum to the Liaison Committee.
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Department for Education
5
Conclusion
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Not Addressed
We would have liked to dedicate more time to a considered examination of the policy issues in the Bill and the mechanisms by which the Bill seeks to meet its policy aims. However, given the tight timetable the Government has provided for this Bill, and our wish to contribute effectively …
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We would have liked to dedicate more time to a considered examination of the policy issues in the Bill and the mechanisms by which the Bill seeks to meet its policy aims. However, given the tight timetable the Government has provided for this Bill, and our wish to contribute effectively by proposing changes to the Bill where necessary, we have had to be extremely selective in the parts of the Bill we have examined. We have sought to learn from, and amplify, the voices of the practitioners, families and professionals who will be directly affected by the Bill. (Conclusion, Paragraph 14)
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Government response AI summary
The government defends its legislative timetable and decision not to publish the Bill in draft, stating its process was in line with guidance and aimed to progress reforms quickly, rather than directly addressing the Committee's wish for more time.
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Department for Education
6
Conclusion
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Rejected
Care leavers face a confusing patchwork of entitlements when they leave care. This is made more complex by the differing offers in each local authority and the fact that they are having to navigate this at a young age, often with little or no support. Our witnesses supported the view …
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Care leavers face a confusing patchwork of entitlements when they leave care. This is made more complex by the differing offers in each local authority and the fact that they are having to navigate this at a young age, often with little or no support. Our witnesses supported the view that a National Care Offer would help with this. (Conclusion, Paragraph 19)
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects the concept of a National Care Offer, stating that local authorities are best placed to respond to local needs and a central framework would be bureaucratic. It instead highlights existing legislation and upcoming Bill changes aimed at strengthening care leavers' legal entitlements …
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Department for Education
7
Conclusion
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Accepted
Young people in care are significantly more likely to have experienced trauma and adverse experiences than their peers, and therefore strong mental health support is crucial. Although local authorities are required to assess the emotional and mental health of children in their care, evidence suggests this does not always happen …
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Young people in care are significantly more likely to have experienced trauma and adverse experiences than their peers, and therefore strong mental health support is crucial. Although local authorities are required to assess the emotional and mental health of children in their care, evidence suggests this does not always happen in practice. Our witnesses were clear that there is scope to strengthen the requirement for the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in the care system to be assessed. (Conclusion, Paragraph 23)
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the committee's concern that mental health assessments for children in care do not always happen in practice, despite existing requirements. It commits to reviewing and updating statutory guidance on 'Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children' to consider what changes are …
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Department for Education
8
Recommendation
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Rejected
Despite the implicit inclusion of children with SEND in the Bill’s provisions on breakfast clubs, we consider that express inclusion of the needs of those children on the face of the Bill would be a much stronger safeguard against schools failing—for reasons of cost, convenience and accident—to put in place …
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Despite the implicit inclusion of children with SEND in the Bill’s provisions on breakfast clubs, we consider that express inclusion of the needs of those children on the face of the Bill would be a much stronger safeguard against schools failing—for reasons of cost, convenience and accident—to put in place commonsense measures to ensure that children with SEND have equal access to breakfast clubs. There are also implications for local authorities who fund home to school transport for many children with SEND and who would be required to make transport available on a more flexible basis, potentially at additional cost, to enable children to get to a breakfast club. Strengthening the inclusion requirements of breakfast clubs on the face of the Bill would place the onus on the Department for Education to take account of this requirement when allocating funds for the national roll-out of breakfast clubs and making the case to HM Treasury for those monies in the upcoming Spending Review. (Conclusion, Paragraph 30)
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees on the importance of SEND accessibility but rejects placing express inclusion on the Bill's face, believing it would not alter the intended effect. It outlines existing funding and plans to test and learn from early adopter schools.
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Department for Education
9
Recommendation
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Accepted in Part
We consider that the arguments for auto-enrolment in free school meals for those children currently eligible are conclusive. In the interests of alleviating hunger in schools and improving health and educational outcomes for the poorest children, auto-enrolment must be brought in without delay. (Conclusion, Paragraph 35) 27
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We consider that the arguments for auto-enrolment in free school meals for those children currently eligible are conclusive. In the interests of alleviating hunger in schools and improving health and educational outcomes for the poorest children, auto-enrolment must be brought in without delay. (Conclusion, Paragraph 35) 27
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the importance of free school meals and commits to making it quicker and easier for families to sign up by upgrading the Eligibility Checking System and exploring options for data sharing and Universal Credit integration, but does not commit to full auto-enrolment.
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Department for Education
10
Recommendation
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Accepted
We consider that local authorities should draw on the advice of specialist domestic abuse charities in coming to a decision on whether FGDM is in the child’s best interests where domestic abuse has occurred. (Conclusion, Paragraph 41)
Government response AI summary
The government accepts the recommendation, committing to develop updated statutory guidance and best practice guidance with the support of specialist domestic abuse charities to help local authorities assess FGDM decisions where domestic abuse has occurred.
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Department for Education
11
Conclusion
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Acknowledged
We welcome the additional clarity on teacher pay offered by the Government’s new clause and new schedule brought forward at Committee stage. (Conclusion, Paragraph 47)
Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the Committee's feedback regarding the clarity provided on teacher pay measures in the Bill.
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Department for Education
12
Conclusion
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Not Addressed
We have not had the time or resource to comb through the Bill or take evidence on the delegated powers within it, although we note that the published Delegated Powers Memorandum for the Bill is 75 pages long. We stated at the beginning of this Report that the Bill’s timetable …
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We have not had the time or resource to comb through the Bill or take evidence on the delegated powers within it, although we note that the published Delegated Powers Memorandum for the Bill is 75 pages long. We stated at the beginning of this Report that the Bill’s timetable and handling has not allowed us to conduct detailed legislative scrutiny. (Conclusion, Paragraph 65)
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Government response AI summary
The government thanks the Committee for reviewing the published documents and defends the detailed nature and justification of the Bill's delegated powers, without addressing the Committee's lack of time for detailed scrutiny.
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Department for Education
13
Conclusion
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Acknowledged
We have worked at pace on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to contribute to fulfil our scrutiny role within the parameters set by the Government’s timetable and increase transparency for the benefit of the House and, we hope, those who will be affected by the legislation. We are particularly …
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We have worked at pace on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to contribute to fulfil our scrutiny role within the parameters set by the Government’s timetable and increase transparency for the benefit of the House and, we hope, those who will be affected by the legislation. We are particularly grateful to those young adults who gave evidence to us on their lived experience of the care system and have reflected their voices in this Report. We have tested the Bill’s provisions with stakeholders and policy experts and produced this Report with the aim of assisting the House at Report stage and Third Reading. (Conclusion, Paragraph 67)
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Government response AI summary
The government expresses gratitude for the Committee's support, engagement, and the contributions of policy experts and stakeholders, acknowledging their work on the Bill and looking forward to further engagement.
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Department for Education
14
Recommendation
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's…
Acknowledged
We draw the Government’s attention to the New Clauses and amendments tabled in the name of our Chair which seek to offer practical ways to meet the concerns and put into effect the recommendations we have heard in evidence from witnesses. (Recommendation, Paragraph 68) 28
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We draw the Government’s attention to the New Clauses and amendments tabled in the name of our Chair which seek to offer practical ways to meet the concerns and put into effect the recommendations we have heard in evidence from witnesses. (Recommendation, Paragraph 68) 28
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the Committee's work and the Chair's welcomed assurances on the tabled amendments, expressing gratitude for engagement and looking forward to further discussions as the Bill progresses.
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Department for Education