Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

The British Psychological Society has briefed the House of Lords on the importance of proper support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill progresses through the UK Parliament. The bill covers many areas, including children in care, child protection, schools, SEND, attendance, teachers, and support for lower-income families.

The BPS briefing was published before the bill's second reading in the House of Lords. It emphasised that, while the BPS supports the bill's aim of raising academic standards for every child, there was not enough information on how systems and structures would be enhanced to support children with SEND. 'This Bill could therefore be strengthened by implementing measures which demonstrate that driving forward high academic standards and the flexibility required for inclusive education are not mutually exclusive aspirations.'

Given their expertise in supporting children with SEND, the BPS suggested that every education setting in each local authority should have a linked Educational Psychologist. A recent survey of 249 members of the BPS Division of Educational and Child Psychology found 70 per cent felt that children and young people in their local authority did not have fair and equal access to an educational psychologist, and more than half felt unable to support children and young people due to their workloads.

The bill outlined a provision which would require councils and partner agencies to establish multi-agency child protection teams – the BPS welcomed this and pointed out psychologists' role in safeguarding, delivering holistic assessment, formulation and their understanding of vulnerable children. 'To enable effective and efficient partnership working, it is important that these teams are appropriately funded, and staffed with professionals who are trained and supported to work with children and young people within contexts of risk and vulnerability.'

The BPS also welcomed measures to support families experiencing poverty – including a requirement for all state-funded primary schools to provide free breakfast clubs and a statutory limit on the number of branded items of uniform that schools can require. However, it added that, due to an estimated 4.3 million children living in poverty, these provisions should go further and extend free breakfast clubs to all children, including those in secondary schools.

The bill suggests that children who are not in school should be recorded on registers in every local authority in England – a measure the BPS welcomed. 'In 2022/23, 21.2% of pupils in England were recorded as "persistently absent". This equates to around 1.6 million pupils. There are many benefits for children attending school… However, it is important to recognise that a young person's school attendance is impacted by a complex interplay of factors which can include but are not limited to poor mental health, poverty, caring responsibilities and bullying.'

Download the BPS briefing.

Download the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.