In Detail, In Brief: The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Visit to St Peter's CofE Primary School in Bishopsworth, January 2026

Previously, I have written on this blog about important reforms that this Labour Government is undertaking to make sure every child, no matter their start in life, has the chance to thrive and go as far as their talents will take them.

I have talked about our reforms to special educational needs provision, which will make schools more inclusive places where getting the right support is a matter of course rather than a battle for parents to fight.

I have also talked about our new, cutting-edge national curriculum which will prepare children for their future in a rapidly changing world, including equipping them with the skills to spot and reject disinformation online and navigating the challenges and opportunities of AI.

There are also important measures being taken forward to support parents with the cost of living, from free breakfast clubs in primary school, and capping the number of branded uniform items that schools can require, to the expansion of Free School Meals to every child in a household on Universal Credit.

Underlying these changes is an important piece of legislation which, as I write, is progressing through its final stages in Parliament: the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

The Bill’s has two major parts. The first part focuses on vital reforms to children’s social services, so that our most vulnerable young people aren’t slipping through the cracks.

I have sadly heard too many stories in Bristol South of young people being failed when systems that are meant to safeguard their wellbeing didn’t talk to each other. The Bill introduces a Single Unique Identifier (SUI) for every child so that crucial information can be communicated between agencies with different responsibilities for a child’s welfare.

There are also important changes for care leavers in the Bill, recognising the particular challenges that that group faces. The Bill expands their rights to support to help them live independently into adulthood, as well as making sure that certain care leavers age 25 or under cannot ever be classified as “intentionally homeless” which can at the moment lead to support being cut off at a pivotal time.

The Bill’s second part focuses on schools, starting from the position that standards must be high across the board so that no child is being left behind. Changes to how academy schools operate are particularly important for Bristol South, where all of our schools are part of multi-academy trusts.

Under the Bill, all teachers working in academies will need to have qualified teacher status or be working towards that status. It also makes sure that all academies will teach to the new national curriculum. The Bill sets a floor for pay and conditions for teachers in academies, supporting Labour’s mission to recruit 6,500 new teachers.

In order to ensure that every child is receiving a suitable education, the Bill will introduce a register of children not in school, with new safeguards to ensure that particularly vulnerable children are not being withdrawn from school inappropriately and with new powers to make sure a child is returned to a school setting if their needs are not being met outside school.

The right to educate one’s children at home will remain but with a better balance struck to ensure that every child is assured their right to a safe and suitable education.

Taken together, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is a comprehensive package that closes the gaps in our system where children, and often the most vulnerable children, have been let down in the past whilst being ambitions for every child to have the best start in life no matter where they have come from.