Found: Through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the Department for Education are legislating to introduce

Found: One of the things that we are calling for in relation to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill,

Found: One of the things that we are calling for in relation to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill,

Found: As part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill Committee stage, we have been discussing the overemphasis

Found: the Sex Education Forum, Brook and EVAW, which seeks to, through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: We are bringing in new requirements on school uniforms as part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: Out-of-area placements 21 Children’s social care placement delivery 24 Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: The single unique identifier, which is in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, I think will be

Found: that this is currently being presented in parliament as a part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: Single Unique Identifier and improve data-sharing, as outlined in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: programme is establishing the information sharing provisions in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: Lord Hampton: Good news seems to be going into the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, does it not

Found: significantly improve the consistency of those services through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: significantly improve the consistency of those services through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: significantly improve the consistency of those services through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with schools on the potential impact of branded school uniform policies on families; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools comply with the statutory guidance entitled Cost of school uniforms, published on 19 November 2021.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Whilst many schools are taking action to reduce costs, too many families tell us that the cost of school uniform remains a financial burden. The department’s research shows that the average cost of uniform is significantly lower when parents can buy items from somewhere other than a designated shop or school. This research is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms-survey-2023.

The government has introduced legislation through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to limit the number of compulsory branded items schools can require, to remove the cost of uniform as a barrier to pupils accessing school and activities in school.

We estimate that requiring fewer branded items from designated suppliers could save some parents over £50 per child during the back to school shop once the uniform limit comes into effect.

The department has statutory guidance on the ‘Cost of school uniforms’, and schools must have regard to it when designing and implementing their uniform policies. We expect all schools to now be compliant.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with (a) Buckinghamshire Council and (b) Milton Keynes City Council on the use of data sharing improvements set out in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department has not held formal bilateral discussions with Buckinghamshire Council or Milton Keynes City Council specifically on the data sharing provisions in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. However, all local authorities as well as multi-agency practitioners, were invited to national webinars held in June and July this year which engaged over 400 practitioners. The department will continue to engage with the sector throughout the implementation of these measures to ensure local perspectives are reflected.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mechanisms are in place to share safeguarding intelligence between local authorities and law enforcement in cases involving suspected exploitative children’s homes.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Although current legislation permits information sharing to safeguard and protect the wellbeing of children, practitioners have told the department that they often only feel confident sharing where there are serious child protection concerns.

As outlined in ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’, the department is taking two important legislative steps to improve how services share information to support children and families more effectively.

Firstly, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill introduces provision in law, paving the way for a consistent identifier to be specified and the organisations required to use it, at a later date, via regulations.

Secondly, the Bill also seeks to put an end to misconceptions about the legal barriers to sharing information, introducing a clear legal basis for sharing information for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

Ofsted inspect children’s homes once a year and take immediate action where there are safeguarding concerns, working with local authorities to protect children. The department is strengthening Ofsted’s powers via the Bill, introducing provider oversight to complement the existing regulatory regime, enabling Ofsted to act at scale and pace by requiring provider groups to improve quality where Ofsted identify concerns, and take action for non-compliance. The relevant local authorities will be informed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the identification of young carers by adult mental health services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Local authorities are required by law to take reasonable steps to identify young carers in their area that need support, and to undertake an assessment of need, where appropriate. To support local authorities in their child protection duties, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which was introduced to Parliament in December 2024, contains provisions that will strengthen multi-agency working with children and families by introducing a new duty on safeguarding partners, including local authorities, police, and health services.

We recognise that, when someone is admitted to a mental health hospital or detained under the Mental Health Act, young carers are not always appropriately identified by adult mental health services. To improve this, as part of the reforms to the Mental Health Act, we plan to encourage individuals to make the presence of any young carers known in their Advance Choice Document. This document is intended to be a source of key information for mental health professionals if the individual experiences a mental health crisis.

Furthermore, provisions in the Mental Health Bill aim to ensure that people who care for a patient’s welfare, such as young carers, are proactively involved in the patient’s statutory care plan by the clinician. We will include guidance in the revised Mental Health Act Code of Practice to help ensure young carers are appropriately involved and supported.

NHS England is working to support the identification of young carers and has recently published guidance for general practitioners. NHS England is also utilising data to help support greater joined up work between health, education, and social care.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has considered allowing local education authorities to open new maintained schools.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the government is removing the legal presumption that all new schools are opened as academies, allowing local authorities to welcome proposals for all types of school, and to put forward their own proposals where they choose to do so.

These changes will better align local authorities’ responsibility to secure sufficient school places with their ability to open new schools.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support Surrey County Council to deliver more housing for care leavers to improve Education, Employment and Training opportunities.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to improving support for care leavers. Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are placing a new duty on local authorities to provide ‘Staying Close’ support to care leavers up to age 25 where their welfare requires it and requiring local authorities to publish their arrangements for supporting care leavers’ transition to adulthood. The Bill will also ensure care leavers cannot be found intentionally homeless and will introduce corporate parenting responsibilities for government departments and relevant public bodies so that they better take the needs of care leavers into account. We also fund local authorities to help care leavers stay with their foster families up to age 21, known as ‘Staying Put’.

Support is available for eligible care leavers to access bursaries to engage in education, employment and training, including £2,000 for university and £3,000 for apprenticeships.

Wider housing reforms will also benefit care leavers. On 2 July, we announced a ten-year plan to deliver the largest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation, alongside lasting improvements in safety and quality. Additionally, from 10 July, eligible care leavers under 25 will no longer need to meet a local connection or residency test to access social housing.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to rural proof the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The government is committed to ensuring that the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill delivers for all children, including those living in rural areas.

The Bill includes measures designed to be delivered flexibly by local authorities, regional bodies and schools, enabling them to respond to local contexts. For example, provisions in the Bill to reform the children’s social care placement market include Regional Care Cooperatives which will assist local authorities by analysing the future accommodation needs for looked-after children across the region. This will support improved planning across geographic areas. We are also legislating on a package of measures which will help ensure that decisions on school place planning and admissions support the needs of communities, including rural communities.

The department is keen to learn what will support providers in rural areas to implement measures in the Bill. That is why schools in rural areas are included in the early adopter scheme for breakfast clubs. Home educating families and out-of-school education providers in rural areas will also have the opportunity to engage when we consult on the implementation of the children not in school measures.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the education and employment opportunities of children in care are not limited by missed education or lower grades that are the result of moving home or schools during Key Stage 4.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes.

We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life, and particularly in respect of their education. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their Personal Education Plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exams and other critical periods in their education.

The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the placement market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying. This includes a focus on addressing the barriers that prevent homes from being established where they are needed.

Through the government’s Plan for Change, we are also investing £2 billion over this Parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.

These measures will mean more placements are available for children who need them, so they do not have to move at critical periods where it is not in their interests. They will also ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they can be placed closer to home and school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of being moved far from their communities and support networks during their GCSE and A-Level years on children in care.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes.

We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life, and particularly in respect of their education. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their Personal Education Plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exams and other critical periods in their education.

The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the placement market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying. This includes a focus on addressing the barriers that prevent homes from being established where they are needed.

Through the government’s Plan for Change, we are also investing £2 billion over this Parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.

These measures will mean more placements are available for children who need them, so they do not have to move at critical periods where it is not in their interests. They will also ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they can be placed closer to home and school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding of the report by Become, Moved During Exams: The instability crisis affecting children in care, published in June 2025, that more than 5,000 children in care were moved more than 20 miles from their home or previous placement during their GCSE and A-Level years.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes.

We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life, and particularly in respect of their education. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their Personal Education Plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exams and other critical periods in their education.

The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the placement market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying. This includes a focus on addressing the barriers that prevent homes from being established where they are needed.

Through the government’s Plan for Change, we are also investing £2 billion over this Parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.

These measures will mean more placements are available for children who need them, so they do not have to move at critical periods where it is not in their interests. They will also ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they can be placed closer to home and school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding of the report by Become, Moved During Exams: The Instability Crisis Affecting Children in Care, published in June 2025, that more than 4,000 children in care moved home or had to leave care during their A-Level exam period.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes.

We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life, and particularly in respect of their education. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their Personal Education Plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exams and other critical periods in their education.

The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the placement market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying. This includes a focus on addressing the barriers that prevent homes from being established where they are needed.

Through the government’s Plan for Change, we are also investing £2 billion over this Parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.

These measures will mean more placements are available for children who need them, so they do not have to move at critical periods where it is not in their interests. They will also ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they can be placed closer to home and school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of leaving care in the lead-up to or during the A-Level exam period on care-experienced young people's educational attainment.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes.

We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life, and particularly in respect of their education. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their Personal Education Plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exams and other critical periods in their education.

The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the placement market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying. This includes a focus on addressing the barriers that prevent homes from being established where they are needed.

Through the government’s Plan for Change, we are also investing £2 billion over this Parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.

These measures will mean more placements are available for children who need them, so they do not have to move at critical periods where it is not in their interests. They will also ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they can be placed closer to home and school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage more students to study languages in schools.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The study of languages is compulsory under the national curriculum at key stages 2 and 3 for all maintained schools, and will become compulsory in academies, subject to the passage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

The most important factor in encouraging students to continue studying languages beyond key stage 3 is the quality of teaching. The government continues to fund the National Consortium for Languages Education, which is developing a new model of language support for schools and online continuing professional development for teachers that will support high quality language teaching. This programme is designed to have national reach, ensuring that all schools can benefit regardless of their location.

To further support languages education, the department is offering a £26,000 tax-free bursary for trainee language teachers starting courses in 2025, or alternatively, a £28,000 tax-free scholarship for those training to teach French, German, or Spanish. Additionally, Oak National Academy is developing modern foreign languages lesson resources for key stages 2 to 4, to be fully released by autumn 2025, helping teachers deliver high quality lessons and reduce planning time.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capacity of the NHS to contribute to the provisions for Multi Agency Child Protection Teams in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced in Parliament on 17 December, will protect children at risk of abuse, by stopping vulnerable children from falling through the cracks in services. The bill will place a duty on local safeguarding partners to establish multi-agency child protection teams (MACPTs), aimed at strengthening the multi-agency child protection response to all types of harm. These teams will have a minimum membership, nominated by safeguarding partners, of a social worker, a police officer, a registered health practitioner, and a person with experience of education.

MACPTs have been embedded in 10 local areas through the Families First for Children Pathfinders programme. Based on the learning from these pathfinders, the teams are being rolled out nationally through the Families First Partnership (FFP) programme, launched in April 2025. The FFP programme guide enables flexibility in the composition of MACPTs, which are designed according to local need.

NHS England is supporting and learning from the nine integrated care boards (ICBs) currently working with the Families First for Children Pathfinders programme, which includes MACPTs. The national safeguarding leads are collaborating with the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care to profile how ICBs might implement MACPTs alongside local statutory partners, using Section 75 collaborative funding arrangements in order to optimise the Spending Review budget for the national rollout of the Families First Partnership programme and MACPTs.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the post- (a) 16 and (b) 18 support for young people raised in kinship.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is committed to ensuring more children are supported in a strong kinship care arrangement, avoiding care where possible, because we know that this leads to better outcomes.

We are legislating through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to require local authorities to publish a local offer for children and families in kinship arrangements and requiring local authorities to offer family group decision making to families with children on the edge of care. These measures will ensure more children are supported within their family networks, and with kinship carers instead of entering care.

Some children in kinship care, such as those placed with kinship foster carers, are entitled to leaving care support if they have been in care for a minimum of 13 weeks, some of which was after they reached age 16, when they cease to be looked after. This includes support from a Personal Adviser up to the age of 25, and support to engage in education, employment or training, including a £2,000 bursary if they attend higher education.

This support will also include providing continuity of support and relationships when care leavers reach age 18 through the ‘Staying Put’ programme and investing in family-finding, mentoring and befriending programmes.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 30 May (HL7545), whether they will meet pupils of Meath School in Ottershaw in respect of UNICEF UK's "Rights Respecting Schools Award"; and whether they plan to provide funding for the scheme in England.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The government is committed to upholding the principles of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child and safeguarding the rights of children, as we continue to do through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

We know that some schools choose to follow the UNICEF scheme ‘Rights Respecting Schools Award’, which puts children’s rights at the heart of school policy and practice, and we welcome that commitment to promoting the rights of children. However, there are no plans to provide funding for the ‘Rights Respecting Schools Award’ scheme in England.

All schools in England have specific duties to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development of their pupils and prepare them for the opportunities and responsibilities of adult life.

Schools in England are required to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. Citizenship education is an effective way of doing this, and we expect teachers to reinforce these values as well as to support pupils’ SMSC development.

Ministers welcome the opportunity to meet children and would be grateful for requests to be sent to the office of my hon. Friend, the Minister for School Standards.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory prison sentences for people operating unregulated care homes for children.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is clear that all providers of children’s social care accommodation such as children’s homes should register with Ofsted as per the Care Standards Act (CSA) 2000.

Ofsted has existing powers to prosecute persons carrying on a children’s home or supported accommodation (formally an unregulated placement) without registering.

Where a person is found guilty of running an unregistered children’s home or supported accommodation, the court can issue an unlimited fine, and for a second or subsequent conviction for the same offence, or where the person’s registration has been suspended and they continue to carry on the provision, imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months and/or an unlimited fine.

The government is further strengthening Ofsted’s powers, via the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to enable them to issue monetary penalties for breaches of the CSA, including an unlimited fine for operating a children’s home without being registered. This will allow Ofsted to take action at pace and act as a significant deterrent.

Taken together, the set of powers that will be in place after the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is passed will allow Ofsted and the courts to take the appropriate enforcement action according to each circumstance.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that multi-academy trusts maintain education standards.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Multi-academy trusts play an important role in our schools system, both supporting school improvement and driving forward high-quality education for our children.

Working with schools we will drive excellent teaching and leadership, a high-quality curriculum, robust accountability and faster school improvement, and an inclusive system which removes barriers to learning to ensure every child can achieve and thrive in education. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will help deliver this by providing a core guarantee of quality education in every school, no matter where children live or what school they attend. To ensure all parts of our system are focused on delivering these excellent outcomes, the government will in future bring multi-academy trusts into our inspection system.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a single unique identifier for children in care.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The single unique identifier for children which the government promised in its manifesto is intended to apply to all children, including those in care, and is part of the solution to improve data sharing to stop children falling through the cracks. The legislation to enable its designation and use is currently before Parliament as part of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether a sixth form college that has moved to academy status will be covered by the provisions in the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The Children’s Wellbeing and School Bill will provide a core guarantee of quality education in every school. It will create a floor but no ceiling, enabling healthy competition and innovation beyond a core framework to bring all schools to the level of the very best.

16 to 19 academies are principally concerned with the education of young people above compulsory school age and below the age of 19. They are defined separately to academy schools under the Academies Act 2010 and operate within a policy, financial and operational framework that reflects the type of education that they provide. In keeping with the existing regulatory approach, 16 to 19 academies, including those that were previously sixth-Form colleges, remain out of scope of most of the measures in the Bill that will apply to schools, including academy schools. Under clause 36 of the Bill, 16 to 19 academies remain outside of the scope of Chapter 1 of Part 4 of the Education and Skills Act 2008, which is the main regulatory framework for independent schools, including academy schools.

Clause 49, which introduces a power to secure the performance of an academy proprietor’s duties, will apply to 16 to 19 academies, as well as academy schools. Robust accountability mechanisms play a critical role in the school system by setting clear requirements and expectations, encouraging behaviours that put children first, help them to achieve and thrive, and keep them safe.

This measure will allow my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education to direct any academy trust to comply with their legal duties and address unreasonable actions in a way that is more proportionate than the current intervention regime provided through academy funding agreements.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to address the fact that 34 per cent of children in care moved home at least once during their GCSE or A level years, as estimated by the charity Become in their recent report Moving during exams: the instability crisis affecting children in care.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

We are committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their personal education plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.

The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying. This includes a focus on addressing the barriers that prevent homes from being established where they are needed.

Through our Plan for Change, we are also investing £2 billion over this Parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.

These measures will provide greater placement availability, stability and ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they are placed closer to home.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help improve educational outcomes for young people educated at home.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

All children deserve an education that allows them to achieve and thrive, whether they are educated at school or otherwise.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill includes a package of measures to support children not in school, including those who are home educated. Mandatory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England and Wales, will help improve outcomes for home educated children by supporting local authorities to identify all children not in school in their areas. Measures to make the School Attendance Order process more efficient will minimise the length of time that any child may spend receiving an unsuitable education, thus improving outcomes for children where home education is not working.

The Bill also introduces the first ever duty on local authorities to provide support for home educating families on their registers, upon request ensuring those families have access to reliable advice and information on their child’s education.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press notice by Become entitled New research shows shockingly high numbers of children in care being moved during GCSEs and A-levels, published on 24 June 2025, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of that charity's findings that 17% of children in care moved school during Key Stage 4.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, a child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their Personal Education Plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.

The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying. This includes a focus on addressing the barriers that prevent homes from being established where they are needed.

Through our Plan for Change, we’re also investing £2 billion over this Parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.

These measures will provide greater placement availability, stability and ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they are placed closer to home.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of moving home (a) in the lead up to and (b) during GCSE exams on care-experienced young people’s (i) educational attainment and (ii) future opportunities.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, a child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their Personal Education Plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.

The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying. This includes a focus on addressing the barriers that prevent homes from being established where they are needed.

Through our Plan for Change, we’re also investing £2 billion over this Parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.

These measures will provide greater placement availability, stability and ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they are placed closer to home.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press release by Become entitled New research shows shockingly high numbers of children in care being moved during GCSEs and A-levels, published on 24 June 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the number of children in care who moved school during their GCSE period.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, a child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their Personal Education Plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.

The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying. This includes a focus on addressing the barriers that prevent homes from being established where they are needed.

Through our Plan for Change, we’re also investing £2 billion over this Parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.

These measures will provide greater placement availability, stability and ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they are placed closer to home.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the educational instability that children in care face.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life.

Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their personal education plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.

The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements. The department is also investing £2 billion over this parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.

These measures will provide greater placement availability, stability and ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they are placed closer to home.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to provide training on home education for parents of school-age children.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not have plans to provide training for parents on home education.

We have published guidance for home-educating parents to help them understand their rights and responsibilities.

The department is also introducing a new duty on local authorities to provide support to home-educating families through the Children Not in School measures within the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. This will ensure that there is a baseline level of support across all local authorities so that parents have access to a reliable level of support, irrespective of where they live, and we will be providing additional training to local authorities to help them to fulfil these duties.

Parents who choose to home educate have the flexibility to employ a variety of approaches and need not follow structures such as the national curriculum, stick to a traditional school day, nor include the study of specific subjects, provided the education is efficient, full-time and suitable to the age, ability and aptitude of the child and any special educational needs they may have. Issuing training would therefore not be appropriate, as we do not wish to impose restrictions on parents by instructing them on how they should home educate their children.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many referrals made by police to Local Authority Designated Officers for concerns about people (a) working and (b) volunteering with children resulted in direct action being taken by the (i) local authority, (ii) employer and (iii) voluntary organisation in each of the last three years.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not hold this information. Information about referrals to Local Authority Designated Officers (LADO) is held at a local level by individual police forces and the local authorities.

The outcomes of LADO investigations are also held at local level and contained in the respective LADO annual reports. The department does not collate LADO annual reports and so does not have data on the action being taken by local authorities, employers and voluntary organisations within the last three years.

Keeping children safe could not be more important to this government and we are swiftly acting to reform the child protection and safeguarding system.

That is why the department is legislating through our Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to stop children falling through the cracks and to ensure they are not out of sight of those who can keep them safe.

The department has also introduced a new mandatory reporting duty in the Crime and Policing Bill for individuals undertaking key roles with responsibility for children in England to report sexual abuse.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken with relevant authorities to improve safeguarding policies in state primary schools.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Schools and colleges have a critical role to play in protecting children and keeping them safe. We published statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE) which all schools and colleges must have regard to when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Education’s involvement is fundamental at all levels of safeguarding arrangements. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will introduce a measure to place a duty on safeguarding partners to automatically include and strengthen the role of education and childcare settings in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.

This legislation ensures the full representation of education and childcare in operational safeguarding boards and systems, as well as at the strategic decision-making levels of safeguarding arrangements. It will also mean that all education and childcare settings must work together with safeguarding partners and ensure those arrangements are fully understood and applied in their organisations.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken with relevant authorities to improve safeguarding policies in state secondary schools.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Schools and colleges have a critical role to play in protecting children and keeping them safe. We published statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE) which all schools and colleges must have regard to when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Education’s involvement is fundamental at all levels of safeguarding arrangements. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will introduce a measure to place a duty on safeguarding partners to automatically include and strengthen the role of education and childcare settings in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.

This legislation ensures the full representation of education and childcare in operational safeguarding boards and systems, as well as at the strategic decision-making levels of safeguarding arrangements. It will also mean that all education and childcare settings must work together with safeguarding partners and ensure those arrangements are fully understood and applied in their organisations.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential (a) implications for her policies of the (i) financial and (ii) housing pressures experienced by kinship carers and (b) impact of those pressures on the sustainability of Special Guardianship placements.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government recognises the significant financial, and wider, pressures faced by kinship carers and their impact on the sustainability of special guardianship placements.

That is why the government announced £40 million investment in a Kinship Allowance Pilot, which will test the impact of providing an allowance to kinship carers. The Expression of Interest for this pilot launched on 17 June 2025 and more information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-to-become-a-kinship-allowance-pilot-provider. The programme is expected to begin in autumn 2025 and will support approximately 5,000 kinship children.

Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are enshrining the first definition of kinship care in law and mandating local authorities to publish their kinship local offer, increasing their accountability for ensuring all kinship families are getting the information they need about the support available to them.

The department also funds the charity ‘Kinship’ to provide over 140 peer support groups and a free training package for kinship carers across England.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of a children not in school register in preventing abuse of home schooled children.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Home education is not an inherent safeguarding risk. However, some children who have been withdrawn from school under the guise of home education have been seriously harmed or died due to abuse or neglect, and action is needed.

Compulsory ‘children not in school’ registers, and accompanying duties on parents and out-of-school education providers, will be crucial tools that local authorities can use to identify children not in school in their areas who are not receiving a suitable education, or who need to be protected from harm.

However, registers are only part of the solution. That is why the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill contains other measures aimed at ensuring all children are safe. For example, parents of children who are subject to child protection enquiries or plans, or whose children attend a special school, will be required to get local authority consent before they can educate their children at home. Where these children are already being home educated, we are strengthening the school attendance order process so the local authority can require them to attend school. The Bill also includes measures to strengthen multi-agency working and information sharing, which will benefit all children.

Found: multipliers can be found in the Library research briefing Non- Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill

Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill AMENDMENTS TO BE MOVED IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE [Supplementary

Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill AMENDMENT TO BE MOVED IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE [Supplementary

Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill AMENDMENTS TO BE MOVED IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE [Supplementary

Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill AMENDMENTS TO BE MOVED IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE [Supplementary

Found: would like to thank you for the thoughtful debate on Clause 30 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill AMENDMENTS TO BE MOVED IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE [Supplementary

Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill AMENDMENTS TO BE MOVED IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE [Supplementary

Found: had previously tabled a similar new clause at committee stage of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill AMENDMENTS TO BE MOVED IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE [Supplementary

Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill AMENDMENT TO BE MOVED IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE [Supplementary

Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill EIGHTH MARSHALLED LIST OF AMENDMENTS TO BE MOVED IN COMMITTEE

Found: That is why the Children Not in School measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill include

Found: London SW1A 0AA 26 June 2025 Dear Tom, Legislative Consent Motion: Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: London SW1A 0AA 26 June 2025 Dear Tom, Legislative Consent Motion: Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: to thank you for the interesting debate on Clauses 14 and 15 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: following my commitment, during the Clause 11 debate on Day 5 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill AMENDMENT TO BE MOVED IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE [Supplementary

Found: question you raised in our exchange on Thursday 12 June 2025 during the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill SEVENTH MARSHALLED LIST OF AMENDMENTS TO BE MOVED IN COMMITTEE

Found: Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill AMENDMENTS TO BE MOVED IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE [Supplementary

Found: You will be aware that I am introducing measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which

Found: Today’s announcement builds on measures already announced in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: children’s social care reform – including through key measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: children’s social care reform – including through key measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: Group to discuss current topics voice of the learner best start in life Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: (c) The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (which gives DfE an increased role in overseeing standards

Found: Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Policy Summary Notes. March 2025.

Found: The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will support professionals working with a child to share information

Found: child protection teams that we will legislate to create through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: You will be aware that I am introducing measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which

Found: The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill currently proposes additional powers to allow us to fine providers

Found: planning for the teacher misconduct measures proposed as part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: • The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education

Found: enable and bring effect to many of our recommendations through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: child protection teams that we will legislate to create through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: (c) The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (which gives DfE an increased role in overseeing standards

Found: Baroness Smith of Malvern to Baroness Barran regarding Clause 30 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: young carers, as discussed during the Committee Stage (eighth day) of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: child protection teams that we will legislate to create through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: 06/2025 from Baroness Blake of Leeds to Baroness Barran regarding the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: Blake of Leeds to Baroness Barran regarding questions raised during the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: /2025 from Baroness Smith of Malvern to Baroness Barran regarding the Children's Wellbeing and Schools bill

Found: That is why the Children Not in School measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill include

Found: 2025 from Baroness Smith of Malvern to Baroness Berridge regarding the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: extension, as discussed during the Committee Stage (fourth day) of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: to them, as discussed during the Committee Stage (fourth day) of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: 16 and 17 , as discussed during the Committee stage (third day) of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: regarding issues raised during the Committee stage (third day) of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: The UK Government Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill includes provisions which propose the development

Found: Charities Bill [HL], Charities Bill [HL] Second Reading Committee, Education (Careers Guidance in Schools) Bill

Found: Chair Thank you for your letter inviting my views in relation to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: the Children, Young People and Education Committee, in relation to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: amendments had been laid in the House of Commons enabling key clauses of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: Committee members, I am writing to express my strong opposition to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: Addysg — Children, Young People and Education Committee 07 May 2025 Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: Addysg — Children, Young People and Education Committee 07 May 2025 Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: am writing in support of the Legislative Consent Motion regarding the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: We are deeply concerned to note the acceptance of the Parliamentary Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: 1 LEGISLATIVE CONSENT MEMORANDUM Schools Bill 1.

Found: and Constitution Committee to consider and report on the Legislative Consent Memorandum on the Schools Bill

Found: senedd.wales 16 December 2022 Dear Llywydd, Jayne and Huw, Further to the LCM on the Schools Bill

Found: The Welsh Government’s Legislative Consent Memorandum on the Schools Bill 1 .

Found: The Schools Bill: Report on the Legislative Consent Memorandum 1 Executive summary

Found: and Constitution Committee to consider and report on the Legislative Consent Memorandum on the Schools Bill

Found: Procurement Bill;  Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Bill;  UK Infrastructure Bank Bill;  Schools Bill

Found: 1 LEGISLATIVE CONSENT MEMORANDUM Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill 1.

Found: to consider and report on the Legislative Consent Memorandum on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: to consider and report on the Legislative Consent Memorandum on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: SUPPLEMENTARY LEGISLATIVE CONSENT MEMORANDUM (MEMORANDUM NO 2) CHILDREN’S WELLBEING AND SCHOOLS BILL

Found: report on the Supplementary Legislative Consent Memorandum (No.2) on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: 1 SUPPLEMENTARY LEGISLATIVE CONSENT MEMORANDUM (MEMORANDUM NO 3) CHILDREN’S WELLBEING AND SCHOOLS BILL

Found: report on the Supplementary Legislative Consent Memorandum (No.3) on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Found: It appears that the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill contains similar provision33; provision which

Found: This is being brought about through proposals in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced

Found: Written Statement: The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (10 March 2025)

Question

Will the Cabinet Secretary outline the Welsh Government's rationale behind asking the UK Government to apply parts of their Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill to Wales?

Answered by None

Question

What discussions has the Cabinet Secretary had with home educators about aspects of the UK Government's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill which apply to Wales?

Answered by None