The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – what we need to know

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill
- what we need to know

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was introduced in Parliament on 17th December 2024. The Bill is a comprehensive piece of legislation which aims to:

  • Enhance the quality of education.
  • Safeguard children, particularly those in care.
  • Support families and vulnerable children.
  • Ensure a consistent and high-quality education system.

Summary of changes to schools

Free Breakfast Club Provision: State-funded primary schools must provide free breakfast clubs for all children from Reception to Year 6, ensuring that every child starts the day with a nutritious meal, supporting better concentration and learning outcomes.

School Uniforms: The number of branded uniform items that primary and secondary schools can require will be limited, therefore, making uniforms more affordable.

Children Not in School: Compulsory registers for children not in school will be introduced, LA’s will be required to provide support to parents of these children. Ensuring that all children receive a suitable education.

Expanding the Scope of Regulation: More independent educational institutions will be brought under regulation to ensure they provide a suitable education and meet required standards.

Independent Education Setting and Safeguarding: Improve due diligence and standard setting for proprietors of independent educational institutions, strengthening safeguarding and quality of education.

Suspension of Private School Registration and Boarding: The Secretary of State will have the power to temporarily suspend the registration of independent educational institutions where there are serious safeguarding concerns.

Private School Deregistration Appeals: The process for appeals against deregistration decisions will be changed to focus on future compliance with standards.

Ofsted Powers of Entry and Investigations: Ofsted’s powers to investigate suspected unregistered independent schools will be strengthened.

Teacher Misconduct: The scope of the teacher misconduct regime will be broadened to include more settings and will allow the DfE to make referrals.

School Teachers’ Qualifications and Induction: The requirement for Qualified Teacher Status and statutory induction will be extended to teachers in academies, ensuring all teachers are well-qualified.

Academy Schools: National Curriculum: Academies will be required to teach the National Curriculum following the Curriculum and Assessment Review.

Education Provision for Improving Behaviour: The power to direct pupils off-site to improve behaviour will be extended to academies.

Power to Secure Performance of Proprietor’s Duties: A new power will be created to direct academy trusts that are not complying with their legal duties.

Repeal of Duty to Make Academy Order: The duty to issue an academy order for schools causing concern will be converted into a discretionary power, allowing for more flexible and appropriate interventions to improve underperforming schools.

Extension of Statutory Pay and Conditions: The statutory pay and conditions framework will be extended to include teachers in academies.

Co-operation on Admissions and Place Planning: New duties for schools and LA’s to work together and co-operate on admissions and place planning will be introduced.

Local Authority Direction Powers: Local authorities’ powers to direct academies to admit children will be extended.

Functions of Adjudicator in Relation to Admissions Numbers: The Schools Adjudicator will be enabled to set a school’s published admission number where they uphold an objection.

Establishment of New Schools: Changes to the legal framework for opening new state-funded schools will be changed, allowing for a broader range of school types.

Summary of changes to Children’s Social Care

Family Group Decision Making: Local authorities (LA) will now be required to offer family group decision-making meetings to families at the pre-proceedings stage. Looking to prevent children from entering the care system by encouraging family-led solutions.

Education’s Role in Safeguarding: Education and childcare settings will be required to participate in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements, therefore ensuring that education is part of the safeguarding network.

Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs): Make amendments to the Children Act 2004 to require safeguarding partners to establish at least one MACPT in their area – requiring the LA to nominate someone with experience in education to support with improving risk assessment and influence decision making.

Information Sharing and Consistent Identifiers: Enhanced data sharing between agencies, imposing a duty on specified persons/bodies to disclose information which may be significant for safeguarding and/or promoting the welfare of a child or children.

The introduction of a consistent identifier for children (Single Unique Identifier (SUI)) which designated persons must use when processing safeguarding information, to streamline the process of tracking and supporting vulnerable children.

Kinship Local Offer: LA’s will be required to publish information about the support available to kinship carers and children in kinship care, ensuring that these families have access to necessary resources.

Virtual School Head: The role of the Virtual School Head (VSH) will be extended to promote the educational achievement of children with a social worker and those in kinship care, providing additional support to these vulnerable groups.

Staying Close: LA’s will assess and provide support to care leavers, helping them transition to independent living. This support includes assistance with accommodation, education, and employment.

Local Offer for Care Leavers: An amendment to the Children and Social Work Act 2017 to require each LA to publish the arrangements it has in place to support and assist care leavers in their transition to adulthood and independent living

Regional Cooperation Arrangements: The Secretary of State will have the power to direct LA’s to establish regional care cooperatives. These cooperatives will improve the planning and commissioning of children’s care places.

Use of Accommodation for Depriving Liberty: A statutory framework will be introduced for authorising the deprivation of liberty in community-based provision for children with complex needs, ensuring their safety and wellbeing.

Provider Oversight Regime: Ofsted’s powers will be strengthened to hold provider groups accountable for quality issues in children’s social care settings.

Ofsted Powers to Issue Monetary Penalties: Ofsted will have expanded enforcement powers, including the ability to issue monetary penalties for breaches of the Care Standards Act.

Financial Oversight Scheme: A new scheme will monitor the financial health of significant children’s social care providers, ensuring stability and transparency.

Future Profit Cap: The Secretary of State will have the power to cap the profits of non-local authority providers of children’s social care placements, preventing excessive profiteering.

Children’s Social Care Agency Workers: The use of agency workers in LA children’s social care services will be regulated to ensure stability and quality.

Ill-Treatment or Wilful Neglect: Protections against ill-treatment or wilful neglect will be extended to 16- and 17-year-olds in children’s social care settings.

Employment of Children: Regulations will be updated to give children more opportunities for suitable employment while ensuring their education is not adversely affected.

In Summary

The proposed Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will no doubt be subject to further debate, and amendments during its passage. However, it will represent a significant change in enhancing the role of education in safeguarding. Additionally, the measures to regulate independent educational institutions, strengthen teacher qualifications, training and the duty to share information, can only contribute to more robust and effective safeguarding systems to protect children and improve education.

Some provisions of the Bill will take effect immediately upon the passage of the act, including the powers to make regulations and orders. Other provisions, such as the duty to publish information for kinship carers and children in kinship arrangements, and the new MACPTs will be implemented over a longer period of time.

Resources

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if we can be of any assistance with your Safeguarding needs.  
 
Call 01274 752299 or email admin@safeguardingsupport.com
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Rachel Priestley

Rach has a background in Business Development and Administration, gaining much of her knowledge and experience through her 19 year career with the NHS working within the executive office, community services and public health. 

Before moving on from the NHS, Rach supported the Chief Executive, the Chairman and the Trust Board of a local NHS Care Trust, which managed Children’s Services. Her responsibilities spanned across HR, Finance, Governance, Compliance, Risk, systems and processes, and internal training. Rach also supported the Children’s Safeguarding Lead with safeguarding investigations.

In 2017, she left the NHS to pursue a successful self-employed career supporting business to grow, with flexible business development and administration support, which she continues to do on a part-time basis.

Rach is in house trained, and is passionate about delivering outstanding services and enjoys working as part of the safeguarding team to achieve a common goal.

In her own time, she loves spending time outside, and long walks with the two family dogs. 

Shelley Armstrong

Shelley joined Safeguarding Support in 2020 as an experienced AET-qualified freelance trainer, and now enjoys working across the business, keeping clients as up to date as possible with the ever changing challenges facing safeguarding children in education.

Whilst we aim to simplify safeguarding, Shelley’s passion is to ensure engagement, pride and confidence through training and support. Shelley enjoys applying the competencies gained in different industries and environments to researching, designing, and developing materials for those with the responsibility to safeguard children, and in return has enormous respect for their commitment.

Her experience across the private business sector brings commercial skills to training and her background in psychology and counselling ensure courses are designed and delivered with the learner in mind.

Shelley lives in Yorkshire and enjoys walking her springer spaniels – come rain or shine!

Abigail Havon

Abigail is an experienced AET qualified trainer who began her safeguarding career in the charity sector.  There she was a regional manager and part of the safeguarding leadership team.  She was involved in writing policies and procedures, developing, and delivering training and supporting staff and volunteers to work 121 with children struggling with their literacy. 

She has worked in a variety of business environments gaining experience in different sectors. She has always chosen roles that call for collaboration and communication to bring the best out in people and projects to completion.  Abigail passionately believes that empowering educators to work together as part of a safeguarding team will lead to better outcomes for children and young people. 

As part of the SSL training team her role focuses mainly on delivering virtual training. 

Abigail lives near the Jurassic Coast and enjoys long walks and caring for her jungle of houseplants.  

Carol Stephenson

Carol has spent her entire career teaching in Bradford primary schools. Most recently she was Head Teacher of a large, outstanding, multi-academy trust, inner-city
school where she gained Local Leaders of Education (LLE) status.

Carol is a highly experienced Designated Safeguarding Lead and safeguarding Governor, with an extensive range of expertise, skills and knowledge. It was through this depth of experience that she became a dedicated representative of Bradford Children’s Safeguarding Board. In June 2019, Carol was awarded a Bradford Safeguarding Champions lifetime achievement award 2019 for her continued work in safeguarding the children of Bradford.

Carol is in-house trained and is NSPCC certified to deliver Child Protection and Safeguarding training.

In her spare time, Carol enjoys working on her allotment.