Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill: motion relating to Lords Amendment 106

MPs voted on 15 April 2026 to reject a Lords amendment that would have placed a statutory ban on pupils possessing or using smartphones during the school day. The government instead proposed its own amendment in lieu, which would allow statutory guidance to follow if a future consultation supported it. The motion passed by 248 votes to 139. The practical effect is that schools in England will not face a legally binding smartphone ban in statute. Instead, the government's strengthened non-statutory guidance, which instructs schools to be mobile-free by default, remains the operative framework. The amendment in lieu preserves a route to legislation if consultation evidence points that way, but for now headteachers and schools must rely on guidance rather than a statutory requirement. The vote divided sharply along party lines. Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs supplied virtually all 248 ayes, while Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens and several independents combined to make up most of the 139 noes. Four Labour MPs voted against the government. Notably, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats found themselves on the same side as each other, both pressing for the stronger statutory ban that the Lords had passed. The vote was one of several ping-pong exchanges on the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill that day, with related divisions on Lords amendments 38, 102 and 41B producing similarly tight results.