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Select Committee · Education Committee

Children's Wellbeing and School Bill

Status: Open Opened: 21 Jan 2025 5 recommendations 8 conclusions 1 report
Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's Wellbeing and Schoo… HC 732 28 Feb 2025 13 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
3 Conclusion 2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's… Rejected

Government disregarded guidelines and hindered scrutiny of Bill through poor engagement

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 …

Government response. 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.
Department for Education
6 Conclusion 2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's… Rejected

Care leavers experience a confusing patchwork of differing local authority entitlements.

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 …

Government response. 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 …
Department for Education
8 Recommendation 2nd Report – Scrutiny of the Children's… Rejected

Implicit inclusion of children with SEND in breakfast clubs risks unequal access.

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 …

Government response. 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.
Department for Education

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
4 Feb 2025 Clare Canning · Broadleaf Home Ed Co-operative, Councillor Bev Craig · Local Government Association (LGA), Daniel Kebede · National Education Union, Dr Rebecca Montacute · Sutton Trust, John Barneby · Oasis Community Learning, Kate Anstey · Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), Lindsey MacDonald · Magic Breakfast, Sam Freedman · The Institute for Government, Thomas Brooke · Office of the Schools Adjudicator View ↗

Correspondence

5 letters
DateDirectionTitle
6 May 2025 To cttee Letter from Minister for School Standards on Children's Wellbeing and Schools B…
23 Apr 2025 From cttee Letter to Minister for Schools Standards on Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bi…
18 Mar 2025 To cttee Letter from Minister for School Standards on Scrutiny of the Children's Wellbei…
4 Feb 2025 — CWS 05 - Written evidence from Broadleaf Home Ed Co-operative to Children's Wel…
7 Jan 2025 — Correspondence with Minister for School Standards on Children’s Wellbeing Bill,…