Education Secretary says proposed new law ‘seminal moment for child protection’

The right to home education will no longer be automatic for parents of the most at-risk children, under proposed legislation being unveiled in Parliament.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is being introduced in the Commons on Tuesday – on the same day 10-year-old Sara Sharif’s killers are sentenced, in a case which raised questions over safeguards around home-schooling.

Sara, whose battered body was discovered at her family home in Woking, Surrey in August last year, had been pulled out of school by her family in the last months of her life, despite teachers having noticed marks on her face and referred her to social services.

The case – which last week saw her father Urfan Sharif, 42, and stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, convicted of her murder, and uncle Faisal Malik, 29, of causing or allowing her death – prompted Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to say there were “questions that need to be answered” on protections for children.

Ahead of the Bill taking the first step towards becoming law in England, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said too many children have been “failed” by the state.

The proposed legislation includes giving local authorities power to intervene and require school attendance for any child if the home environment is assessed as unsuitable or unsafe.

It will also see parents no longer having an automatic right to take their children out of school for home education if the young person is subject to a child protection investigation or under a child protection plan – meaning the child is suspected of being at risk of significant harm.

Other aspects will include new registers to identify children not in school, and a measure giving children a unique identifier number – akin to a national insurance number – in a bid to ensure issues can be tracked and shared across services “preventing children from falling through the cracks”.

Ms Phillipson said:  “In recent years, too many children have been failed by their last line of defence: the state.

“This bill will be a seminal moment for child protection. No more words, no more lessons learnt. This government will put children first at every turn.

“That means a child-centred government, with better protections for young people and real join up between children’s social care, schools and local services.

“Alongside further measures to drive high and rising standards in our schools, this bill will deliver on this government’s Plan for Change, so that all children, whatever their circumstances, can achieve and thrive.”

The Department for Education said measures in the bill will ensure teachers and schools are always involved in decisions around safeguarding children in their area.

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: “The urgency with which this legislation is being introduced to Parliament demonstrates the importance of these issues. It lays a foundation for change in many children’s lives – many of whom have been neglected or hidden by services working in silo.

“As Children’s Commissioner I have called on successive governments to introduce a unique identifying number for children and a register of all children not in school.

“Writing these two landmark measures into law will be of huge significance for any child currently at risk of harm in this country – it must now be supported by proper data-sharing between organisations so no child can become invisible in the system.”

The Government said the Bill will also see families better  supported to stay together, in a bid to boost earlier intervention enabling some children to avoid having to go into the care system.

The Children’s Charities Coalition described the Bill as “promising” and having “the potential to transform how we help our most vulnerable children and families”.

But it said the doubling of the investment for Family Help services to £500 million next year, aimed at enabling local authorities to support vulnerable families and protect children before, in the Government’s words “issues escalate to tragedy”, is not enough.

While the department branded it a “significant cash boost”, the coalition said: “The money announced today falls far short of what’s needed.”

The charities added: “Children and families desperately need – and deserve – sustained investment in early help services, mental health support and children’s social care. This needs to be underpinned by an ambitious strategy to tackle child poverty.”

There has also been a pledge from Government for a “backstop” law, which would limit the profit children’s social care providers can make, to be brought in if providers do not voluntarily put an end to profiteering.

Meanwhile, charities and local authorities have written to the Government to urge that the Bill includes auto-enrolment for free school meals, ensuring all children who are entitled do not miss out.