Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill 2024-25: progress of the bill

Bill stages

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was introduced into the Commons on 17 December 2024. It had its second reading on 8 January 2025 and completed it Commons committee stage 11 February 2025. At the time of writing, a date for the bill’s report stage and third reading had not been set.

This briefing provides an overview of the progress of the bill through the House of Commons prior to report stage. The bill, together with its explanatory notes, impact assessment and transcripts of the parliamentary stages, are available on the parliament.uk website: Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

What would the bill do?

Part one of the bill includes a series of measures on children’s social care, inclding kinship care, child protection, care leavers, accommodation for looked after children, and the social care workforce.

Part two of the bill contains measures on school-level education, including on breakfast clubs, uniform, registers of children not in school, independent providers, teacher misconduct, academies, and on school places and admissions.

Futher information is provided in the Library briefing on the bill as introduced.

Second reading in the Commons

The bill’s second reading debate took place on 8 January 2025, during a time of heightened interest in child sexual exploitation.

Some of the second reading debate was focused on child sexual abuse, the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), and calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

Part one of the bill on children’s social care was broadly welcomed and it was noted that in many areas the bill continued work begun under the previous government. There were also calls for the bill to go further in some areas and some members highlighted possible additions to the bill.

Many measures in part two of the bill, on schools, were also broadly welcomed – for example, the proposals on breakfast clubs and the registers of children not in school. The measures relating to academy freedoms, the school curriculum, and teacher pay, conditions and qualifications, received a more mixed response.

The Official Opposition and the Reform Party tabled reasoned amendments declining to give the bill a second reading. The opposition’s amendment was selected for debate and rejected following a vote (by 364 votes to 111).

Commons committee stage

The bill was considered by a public bill committee over fourteen sittings between 21 January and 11 February 2025.

Part one: children’s social care

There was cross-party support for large elements of part one of the bill on children’s social care. The debate often focused on points of detail rather than disagreement about the broad thrust of the proposed changes.

The only substantive change agreed was new government clause 6, which would prevent certain care leavers aged 25 and under (“relevant children” and “former relevant children”) from being classed as intentionally homeless.

Non-government amendments and new clauses that were debated but not agreed included proposals to:

• increase support for kinship carers
• require the Secretary of State to produce a report on the number and availability of placements and an analysis of the expected impact of a profit cap, before introducing a cap on the profits of social care placement providers
• abolish the common law defence of reasonable punishment in relation to corporal punishment of a child
• require the Secretary of State to establish a Child Protection Authority for England
• require the Secretary of State to set up a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs

Part 2: schools

As at second reading, proposals on breakfast clubs and the register of children not in school were broadly welcomed, although some parts were more controversial, and saw several amendments and new clauses being tabled. These included the clauses relating to pay, conditions, teacher qualifications and the curriculum at academies, mandatory academy orders and the provisions concerned with school places and admissions.  

The only substantive change agreed to part two was new government clause 57 and new schedule one, which made clear that teachers in relevant academies must be paid at least the minimum set out in statutory pay guidance for maintained schools – but they could be paid more. That is, there would be no ‘ceiling’ on pay. National conditions set out in statutory pay and conditions guidance would also apply to academy teachers.

Non-government amendments and new clauses that were debated but not agreed included proposals to:

• automatically register children for free school meals, and expand the current eligiblity criteria
• establish a national body for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to support schools and other providers
• ban the use of mobile phones and other devices with similar functionality in schools in England
• introduce a national programme to regularly measure and report on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in schools
• require all schools to have a mental health practitioner