Children not in school registers and unique identifier numbers to be introduced through Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Under the Bill, parents will no longer have an automatic right to educate their children at home if their child is subject to a child protection investigation or under a child protection plan.

If a child’s home environment is assessed as unsuitable or unsafe, local authorities will also have the power to intervene and require school attendance for any child.

The Department for Education (DfE) noted: “Teachers and educators are often the first to spot warnings of abuse or neglect, and last year, schools were the second largest referrer of cases into children’s social care. Measures in the Bill will make sure that teachers and schools are always involved in decisions around safeguarding children in their area.”

Other key measures include the introduction of registers to identify children who are not in school, and the introduction of unique identifier numbers for children across services – likened to how the national insurance number works for adults.

The DfE said: “Better data sharing is critical to ensuring issues can be spotted earlier and acted on. The unique identifier number for children will allow those responsible for the safeguarding and welfare of children to better join together relevant data, preventing children from falling through the cracks.”

The new laws will also ensure all councils offer Family Group Decision Making – a service that brings extended family members together where a child is on the brink of entering care.

This comes alongside a requirement on councils to publish a local kinship offer, so that family members and friends stepping in to care for children know what support is available to them.

The DfE noted: “This could include training or access to peer support groups which provide valuable support networks for new carers.”

Further, the Bill will support the government’s crackdown on “excessive profit-making” by children’s social care providers, including introducing a backstop law to “potentially cap the profit providers can make”, said the DfE.

Additional measures include:

• Councils will be able to welcome proposals for all types of school, not just academies, so new schools are opened by the provider with the best local offer for local children and families. 
• All new teachers will hold or be working towards Qualified Teacher Status before they enter the classroom. They will also need to complete a statutory induction period. 
• Every schoolteacher will have the same core pay and conditions offer, and schools will have greater flexibility to attract and retain the best teachers. 
• Schools and councils will have to work together when it comes to school admissions, with councils given greater powers to ensure admissions decisions reflect local needs including the placement of vulnerable children. 
• Failing schools run by local authorities will not be automatically forced to become an academy, opening up a broader range of levers to quickly drive-up standards. 

Welcoming the Bill, Cathy Ashley, Chief Executive of Family Rights Group, said: “The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is a landmark opportunity for reforming the child welfare system.

“[…] Family Rights Group has long campaigned for families to have the opportunity to come up with solutions for their children’s welfare before the state removes them. The Government’s bold intention to mandate local authorities to offer this could be a step change in how the state works with, rather than doing to, children and their families.

“To give families fair and equal opportunity across the country, this offer must be for a family-led, robustly evaluated approach that has been tried and tested. Family group conferences achieve that. They operate to clear standards and reduce the likelihood of a child entering or remaining in care. Most local authorities also have a family group conference service, albeit often small, so there is a strong existing base to build from."

Ashley added: “We are also delighted to see our proposals adopted for kinship care to be defined in primary legislation, with a new legal duty on councils to publish a local kinship offer for families. Too often children being raised by relatives and friends, including those outside of the care system in informal arrangements, are not recognised by the state and public services. Families struggle to get the recognition and support they need for their children to thrive. These are important foundational measures towards ensuring that when children cannot remain at home, kinship care is the next explored option.”

She said: “This legislation arrives at a critical moment. The child welfare system is in crisis. Local authorities are overstretched and overwhelmed and too often, children and families do not get the direct help they need early enough to prevent difficulties escalating. There are record numbers of children in the care system, many isolated living far away from family and friends and not having their needs met. It underscores the importance for the Government to move effectively and at pace, to deliver on the ambition that all children can live safely in their family and thrive.”

Also responding to the legislation, Cllr Arooj Shah, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said: “We are pleased government is acting on a long-standing call by the LGA for councils to have and maintain Children Not in School registers.

“However this must be combined with powers for councils to meet face-to-face with children, which is vital to allow councils to ensure children are receiving a suitable education in a safe environment."

Cllr Shah added: “Unique identifiers for children is a positive step, and should be accompanied by wider reform to facilitate better information sharing including investment in systems and administrative support.

“It is also good councils will have greater powers to direct school admissions, and failing council-maintained schools will not automatically become academies, which we have long-called for. We would also like to see proposals around schools and safeguarding go further, with education providers named as a statutory safeguarding partner.”

Andy Smith, President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, meanwhile said: “The Children’s Wellbeing Bill is a significant step forward in putting the needs of children and young people first.

“ADCS welcomes the measures outlined in the new legislation aimed at elective home education, empowering local authorities to improve inclusion, and ensuring transparency in the care placement market.

“However, ongoing evaluation of the various pilot programs and pathfinders now underway plus a clear implementation strategy alongside adequate funding will be essential to transform these policies into practice in the benefit of children and young people.

“We look forward to collaborating with the government and other stakeholders to ensure that these reforms bring about a meaningful difference in children’s lives and life chances.”

Philip Wood, Senior Associate specialising in education law at Browne Jacobson, said: “Too often, children have fallen through the cracks of the education system due to the lack of a national register that identifies those who are not in school, so the introduction of this is a no-brainer.

“Given the steep rise in home-schooling since the pandemic – government data shows there has been a 20% rise in home-educated children over the past year – this is a long overdue policy.

“However, creating a register alone won’t be enough to protect children’s welfare and rights to education. Recent safeguarding reviews regarding children who have been victims of abuse indicate the relevant authorities have been aware of their education circumstances, with missed opportunities for intervention being the crux of the problem.

“Having a register therefore isn’t a panacea to resolve those safeguarding issues. Instead, it must be used as part of a local authority’s armoury of wider powers."

Wood added: “With this Bill coming hot on the heels of proposals to usher in major local government reform, as set out in the English Devolution White Paper, central government must also support local authorities in maintaining their statutory duties in areas such as children’s safeguarding during any restructuring process in the short and medium terms.

“One of the best ways that government can provide support is to set out how it intends to reform special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) policy and funding, with 13% of families stating that poor SEND provision is behind their decisions for home education.”

Lottie Winson