Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Lord Storey Excerpts

2nd reading
Thursday 1st May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Storey (LD)]

My Lords, I start by congratulating my noble friend Lord Mohammed of Tinsley and the noble Lord, Lord Biggar, on their maiden speeches. I also of course welcome them to the House. Today is an important day and this is an important opportunity to make the lives and well-being of our children and young people, and their families, so much better. I have listened to all 77 speeches, which give me great hope that this opportunity will not be missed by your Lordships.

The Bill gives us the opportunity to put right important issues that affect children and families in all sorts of different circumstances. In our schools, it gives us the opportunity to build on the successes already achieved, tackle new problems that have arisen and ensure that all children get the best possible schooling. Of course, we all want the best education for our children and to see them thrive at school. We want our schools to be places of learning where children learn, discover and play, and where we ignite the joy of learning. We want children and young people, whatever their background and circumstances, to want to come to school, to learn and to discover.

The Bill builds on the successes that have been achieved but also deals with the new-found issues that are holding our children back. Let me start with well-being. Only yesterday, the Global Flourishing Study on well-being was reported. The study, which questioned more than 200,000 people from 22 countries, found that the UK came third from bottom for well-being.

The mental health of young people impacts on not only their learning but, of course, their well-being. We must not forget the profound effect that Covid had on children, in particular the lack of socialising with other children. One in five children has a mental health condition and 500 children a day are referred to mental health services. We on these Benches require a qualified and fully funded mental health practitioner in every school. For schools with fewer than 100 pupils, it makes sense for a group of schools to share that mental health practitioner. In opposition, the Government said they wanted to bring a mental health worker to every school, but this is part of the responsibility of the Department of Health. It was a manifesto commitment, but as yet there is no Bill laying this out. Perhaps the Minister will tell us when this commitment will be honoured.

Our commitment would help not only the pupil but the school as a whole and, of course, take pressure from the NHS. Academies started by the Blair Government were seen as a way of tackling low educational achievement in disadvantaged communities. They had more resources, curriculum flexibility and autonomy from the state system. The coalition Government started on their academisation programme with a single-minded—some might say ruthless—determination. Now, over 80% of our schools are either stand-alone or part of a multi- academy trust. It is right that the current Government do not change this model but allow all schools to thrive and grow—but not at the expense of each other.

It must be right that all schools are inspected in the same way and all teachers’ pay is equitable. Our school system should ensure that all teachers are fully qualified or working towards a teaching qualification. With the right safeguards in place, this should not prevent individuals coming into schools to add to the teaching experience, whether it is helping with reading or whether it is somebody with a particular interest, knowledge or expertise sharing that with the pupils. It happens in maintained schools as well. We should also remember that teaching assistants at NVQ levels 3 and 4 can teach in the classroom.

There should be a national curriculum that all schools in England follow, which makes it clear what children should learn but which equally allows time and space for an individual school to pursue areas of expertise and interest. I hope that the curriculum review will understand this sensible approach.

Talking of sensible approaches brings me to the noble Lord, Lord Baker, who reminded us that university technical colleges have a specialised curriculum that makes them unique and successful. They will not have the time to follow a full national curriculum. It makes sense to allow them to have that flexibility. At a time when we need to be providing the skills to grow the economy, we need more university technical colleges. We do not want to see them struggle with the difficulties that they might face with a straitjacketing national curriculum.

Let me frame my next remarks with some statistics: 1.49 million children are persistently absent from school; 171,000 are severely absent from school; 117,700 are in elective home education; and 350,000 are missing entirely from the school system—as we have heard, we do not even know where many of them are. Finally, there were 83,920 incidents of children missing in care in 2024.

As a society, we must always put the safety and well-being of our children at the forefront of everything we do. That is why it is right to ensure that there is a legal framework in which home education is carried out. Currently, any parent can decide to home educate without informing anybody and without any registration or checks. The majority of home educators do a magnificent job in teaching their children at home, and many local authorities have a commendable and constructive working relationship with home educators. We want a framework that is supportive, not bureaucratic, and that ensures that home education is worthy of its name and keeps children in a safe environment. There must never, ever be another Sara Sharif tragedy.

As I said, many local authorities have an excellent relationship with home educators, with some carrying out groundbreaking initiatives. To encourage that relationship, why not pay the exam fees for children who are being home educated? After all, by being home educated, they are saving the state millions of pounds annually.

All schools must be registered and inspected. It cannot be right that some schools with strict religious fundamental practices, after being closed by Ofsted, reopen in the guise of home education. Equally, it beggars belief that children and young people—often the most vulnerable in our communities, including those with special educational needs—are placed in unregistered schools after they are excluded from school. Why are we allowing local authorities to do that? It is because the unregistered schools are cheaper than the registered schools. We need to do something about it. Having said that, some unregistered alternative providers do an excellent job, but, because of their size, they are not able to meet Ofsted requirements. In Committee, let us see whether there is a possible solution to that problem.

We want children to be nourished at school. That is why we brought in the very successful free lunchtime meals for all children at key stage 1. Independent research showed that it helped children, particularly from low-income families, and that it improved well-being, learning and attendance. We would extend that provision to special schools and key stage 2 pupils. We are not opposed to breakfast provision, but it does not reach all pupils, particularly those in rural areas. Breakfast club funding for primary schools will be £30 million, increasing the number of schools with free breakfast from 2,700 to 3,450—but that is out of a total of 16,700 primary state schools in England.

Time does not permit me to talk about a number of important issues. I would have liked to talk about the national tutoring guarantee, Traveller children, refugee children, extending human rights protections, outsourced children’s care, summer-born children, school uniforms, bullying and so on.

Noble Lords will have received dozens of briefings from organisations, charities and individuals, all showing a thirst to improve the well-being of our children and their families, as well as a genuine desire to improve education and schooling. Because I am an optimist, I know that during our seven days in Committee we will deal with amendments on many of those issues and I am sure that the Government will be prepared to listen and consider, and that we will improve on what is already a very good starting point.

Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [HL]

Lord Storey Excerpts

Consideration of Commons amendments and / or reasons
Wednesday 30th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Aberdare (CB)]

My Lords, I have no intention of opposing the amendments sent to us by the House of Commons. I regret the removal of the sole amendment passed by this House, which would, in my view, have given more time for Skills England to get its strategic work fully up and running before taking on the functions to be transferred from IfATE. Having said that, I greatly welcome the establishment of Skills England. I am impressed by the leadership appointments that have been made, with Phil Smith as chair and Sir David Bell as vice-chair. This body has a vital role in meeting the UK’s skills needs, which are fundamental to virtually every objective we and the Government have set for ourselves, and I wish it every success.

I would like to restate my two major concerns, and I will be more than happy if they prove unfounded in the fullness of time. First, will Skills England be able to effectively co-ordinate the work of all the different bodies that need to be involved if we are to deliver a successful skills system overall? That is across government departments, across regions and nations, across industries and sectors and across education and training institutions. Skills England will have to be a pretty effective and tough body with some teeth to make sure that all those bodies fulfil their particular roles in the overall system. My second, more specific question is, how will that successful skills system be defined, measured, monitored and assessed? What will the Government come back to tell us in a few years’ time to demonstrate that it has been successful?

I welcome the Bill as an important first step towards a successful skills system, and I very much hope that the concerns I have expressed will indeed prove to have been unfounded.

[Lord Storey (LD)]

My Lords, it is not often that you are involved in a Bill and everyone agrees what the outcome should be and realises that the issue is more important than anything else. I commend the Government for coming into office and realising straightaway that, if we are to get economic growth, we need the skills to provide it. The noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, was quite right to say that it is not only about having a set of skills and saying that this is what we as a nation need; we need it regionally as well. The needs of the north-east will be very different from those of, for example, the north-west or the south-east.

I hope we can now get on with the job of delivering this. I thank those with whom we have worked closely: the noble Baroness, who has jetted back from Australia, where she has picked up some ideas on skills; and the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, who has been stalwart in bringing us together. I particularly thank the Minister for always giving of her time to listen to us—to both disagree and agree. Finally, I must not forget to thank the Bill team for their work, and Adam Bull in the Lib Dem Whips’ Office.

[The Earl of Effingham (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister and all noble Lords who have been involved in the passage of the Bill. His Majesty’s Official Opposition remain concerned that the Government have removed the amendments in the name of my noble friend Lady Barran. Other noble Lords also expressed concerns that Skills England will be overly focused on administration, resulting in it being unable to prioritise its central strategic tasks. By allowing a year to pass between the creation of Skills England and the abolition of IfATE, we would create sufficient time for the effective transfer of functions and ensure that Skills England could take on its role successfully.

We would suggest that it is a mistake for the Government to ignore these concerns. In both your Lordships’ House and the other place, there has been cross-party support on this issue, and we cannot hide our disappointment that the Government remain unconvinced on this focal point. We on these Benches are worried that the transition period as planned will have a damaging impact on apprentices.

At the same time, we recognise that this is a manifesto commitment. We will, of course, while challenging constructively, work with His Majesty’s Government to progress their skills programme, and we do not intend to push this issue any further. We will continue to remain vigilant on the transition to Skills England and ensure that it is working for the very people it aims to help. Should our concerns increase, we will endeavour to raise them in your Lordships’ House. It is now up to the Government to ensure that Skills England is able to run effectively and does not become overwhelmed with the weight of the accreditation and assurance process.

We are indeed grateful that His Majesty’s Government have listened to some of the key points that have been raised across your Lordships’ House, and the Bill has been strengthened accordingly. A report on the exercise of functions conferred or imposed on the Secretary of State has now been included, which is important for accountability. The Government have listened to the concerns about the Secretary of State preparing apprenticeship plans and assessments, and will, as such, publish information about the relevant matters that have been taken into account.

We thank the Minister for her engagement throughout consideration of the Bill, and we thank all noble Lords who have made such valuable contributions and worked constructively on its scrutiny.