The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act will introduce extensive reforms to children’s services, education, and online safety. However, many of the provisions in the Act are not yet enacted — secondary legislation still needs to be drawn up and consulted upon. Secondary legislation will take the form of the statutory guidance for local authorities and will indicate more clearly the real-life impact of the legal changes brought in by the Act for families. Three major areas will be of particular concern: a social media ban for children; changes to EOTAS (Education Other Than At School) provisions and changes to parental rights and provisions regarding home education.
The Government recently consulted on a broadly popular ban on social media use for under-16s, after a late amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act gave the Government sweeping powers to control internet usage. Although the Government has committed to this policy, exactly what the regulations will look like in practice are yet to be defined. The consultation covered restrictions on harmful online functions such as livestreaming, stranger-contact, autoplay reels, and infinite-scrolling features. The Government also consulted on AI chatbot safeguards, including mandatory breaks for under-18s and restrictions on sexually explicit or emotionally manipulative chatbot behaviours. These elements cannot be enacted until the consultation responses are analysed and the secondary legislation is drawn up. It is expected that rules will come into force in early 2027.
A further area of interest is Elective Home Education (EHE) — the landscape of which is set to be altered significantly by several provisions of the Act. Through the Act, the Government will tighten oversight of children educated at home via a mandatory register of home educated children and the normalisation of home inspections to check that premises are suitable for education. Furthermore, for families with children who have an Education Heath Care Plan (ECHP) and/or are educated in a special school, or families who are known to social services because of a current or historic Child Protection Plan, the changes are particularly significant. For such families, local education authorities will gain new powers to issue ‘School Attendance Orders’ based on a ‘best interests’ test. This means that even where home education is deemed objectively suitable, local authorities will be able to issue a SAO if they deem it is in the child’s ‘best interests’, which remain as yet unspecified. This represents a major departure from the long-standing principle that parents are responsible for providing education and ensuring that it is ‘suitable and efficient.’ These powers cannot be fully implemented until the Government completes its consultations and subsequent secondary legislation. These consultations have not yet been launched.
Finally it is worth noting that children with Education Otherwise Than at School (EOTAS) packages were brought into scope under the terms of the Bill. Such children will be considered ‘children not in school’ and as such will be under the same scrutiny as children who are Electively Home Educated. EOTAS provisions are where the local authority works with parents to provide education for children outside the school setting in alternative education settings and with support at home. EOTAS packages are currently subject to a consultation, which was launched 10th July and submissions must be received by 18th September. The consultation seeks views on how EOTAS should operate in the future and broader changes are expected in a future Bill named the ‘Education for All Bill.’
It is important to note that some of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act’s most important clauses are yet to be implemented and so there are still campaigns to be fought and won. The ban on social media for children is considered by many parents to be broadly positive, in that it will give them the leverage they need to ensure that they can keep their children safe online. There are, however, concerns about these measures in relation to state overreach into parenting and other potential consequences for civil liberties, such as the introduction of Digital ID by the back door. Other provisions in the Act represent a squeeze on parental rights and family life. The register of home educated children, home inspections and changes to the ‘School Attendance Order’ system all mark a distrust of parents and a deification of the ‘professional.’ Parents of SEND children, who often fight every day for their children, will lose significant power – some parents will lose their right to educate their children at home, and others may lose their hard won EOTAS provision. It is important therefore that parents respond to the various consultations, as they come up, which will establish the way in which the CWS Act is implemented. ParentPower will continue to inform and advise parents on all such opportunities, as well as campaign to defend parental rights from ongoing state overreach.
ParentPower Team
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