The LGA’s lobbying has secured significant changes to draft legislation.
As first was going to press, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was in its committee stage in the House of Lords, with seven scheduled sessions beginning towards the end of May and running into June.
The LGA welcomes the progress of this vital legislation, which has already incorporated a number of significant reforms following months of our lobbying.
Throughout the Commons stages of the bill, the LGA played a key role in influencing its direction.
LGA Vice-Chair Cllr Bev Craig appeared before the Commons’ Education Committee, where discussions focused on the proposed register for children not in school.
Ruth Stanier, the LGA’s Assistant Director of Policy – People, gave oral evidence to the bill committee, setting out the LGA’s views on critical provisions, including local oversight of education, regulation of children’s social care providers, and school admissions.
As a result, many of the LGA’s long-standing calls have been addressed in the revised bill.
The bill now includes the introduction of a single unique identifier for children – a vital tool for better information sharing across agencies and preventing children from falling through the cracks.
The LGA is also pleased to see provisions for financial oversight of the largest providers of children’s social care placements, alongside new Ofsted powers to inspect and regulate these providers.
These changes address concerns around the growing dominance of a small number of private companies and their impact on placement stability and cost.
In a major win for children in care, corporate parenting responsibilities will now extend beyond councils to central government departments and other public sector bodies. We will continue to call for these duties to go further and, particularly, to include the police, who play a vital role in safeguarding and supporting vulnerable young people.
On education, the bill introduces new powers to limit the number of branded uniform and PE kit items that schools can require. This reflects our calls to reduce the cost burden on families and remove barriers to participation in sport and extracurricular activities.
Other LGA-backed reforms include: a new duty on councils to maintain ‘children not in school’ registers, paired with requirements to support home-educating parents; and mandatory cooperation between all schools and councils on admissions and planning school places – ensuring every child can access a suitable local school place.
Looking ahead, we will support amendments during the Lords’ committee stage to introduce automatic enrolment for eligible pupils to receive free school meals – an amendment that would ensure no child misses out because of paperwork or administrative delays.
As the bill progresses, we will continue working with Peers, MPs and officials to secure a system that delivers for children and families.
With the right support and funding, we stand with councils ready to implement these reforms and drive improvements for all children – particularly those who are most vulnerable.
- To find out more about the LGA’s work in Parliament, please visit www.local.gov.uk/parliament