Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Third Reading

On 18 March 2025, the House of Commons passed the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill at Third Reading (its final stage in the Commons) by 382 votes to 104. The bill now moves to the House of Lords for further scrutiny. The result was not in doubt given the government's majority, but the margin was nonetheless wide. The bill is one of the most substantial pieces of education and children's legislation in years. Its provisions span two broad areas: children's social care, where it introduces family group decision-making before care proceedings, strengthens child protection teams, creates a consistent identifier for sharing information about children, and introduces financial oversight of private care providers; and schools, where it requires free breakfast clubs in all state primary schools, compels academies to follow the National Curriculum and national teacher pay and conditions, extends Qualified Teacher Status requirements to academy teachers, and establishes local authority registers of home-educated children. The bill affects schools, local authorities, care providers, and families across England. The vote divided almost entirely on party lines. All 283 Labour MPs who voted backed the bill, as did all 57 Liberal Democrats and 31 Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted. All 95 Conservatives who voted opposed it, joined by 4 Reform UK members, 3 Democratic Unionist Party members, and 1 Traditional Unionist Voice member. There were no Conservative votes in favour and no Labour or Liberal Democrat votes against. Five independents supported the bill and two opposed it. The Conservatives have argued throughout the bill's passage that the academy provisions undermine school autonomy and that home education requirements are excessive, while the government has framed the legislation as central to its education mission.