The Education Committee has told the Government it should use its
Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill to remove the requirement
to apply for free school meals for eligible children from
low-income families.
In a new report [embargoed copy attached], the cross-party
Committee makes several recommendations on ways to improve the
Bill, including on ensuring that children receive mental health
assessments when taken into care; improving support for care
leavers to help them live independently; and on ensuring children
with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can access
breakfast clubs.
The Committee has also expressed disappointment with the rushed
government timetable for the Bill, which prevented the Committee
from undertaking scrutiny of more of the policy areas of the
Bill.
The report's recommendations to the Department for Education
(DfE) include:
Free school meals auto-enrolment
That all children who are entitled to free school meals (FSM)
should be automatically enrolled to receive them. Children aged
four to 16 may be entitled to FSM if their parents or carers
receive income-related benefits such as Universal Credit. But
experts told the Committee that one in 10 children who are
currently eligible miss out because of language barriers or
difficulty with the admin process, and that failing to legislate
for auto-enrolment would be a “missed opportunity” to feed hungry
children at school.
Breakfast club inclusion for pupils with SEND
That schools providing universal free breakfast clubs to pupils
should be required “to take account explicitly of the needs of
children with special educational needs and disabilities”. The
report says “common sense” measures should be taken, for example,
to ensure that children with SEND who rely on home-to-school
transport should be enabled to arrive early enough to join
breakfast clubs, and that government funding should reflect this
provision.
Assess mental health of children in care
Any child placed in care by a local authority should, according
to regulation, receive a physical, mental and emotional health
assessment by a registered medical practitioner. But evidence to
the Committee, including from young people with lived experience,
has indicated that mental health assessments often don't take
place. The report concludes that the Government should strengthen
the requirement for the mental health and wellbeing of children
in the care system to be assessed.
Develop a ‘national care offer'
The Committee heard there is great variation between local
authorities in the support offered to young people as they leave
care and transition into living independently as adults. Examples
include help with university accommodation, receiving help from
personal advisors, help with transport costs to get to work or
education, or access to apprenticeships that are reserved only
for care leavers. The report recommends that the Government
should develop a national care offer that is consistent across
the country.
Education Committee Chair MP said:
“The Committee has made recommendations designed to
strengthen support for the most vulnerable children in society,
based on compelling evidence from experts and from young people
who shared with us their deeply moving experiences of life in
care.
“This Report urges the Government to tackle the postcode
lottery of support offered to young people leaving care; to
ensure that children whose parents struggle to put food on the
table at home can get a proper meal at school; that children with
SEND aren't left out of breakfast clubs; and that children facing
the traumatic experiences associated with being taken into care
are properly cared for and their mental health assessed in a
timely way.
“While we welcome the Government's ambition in this Bill, my
colleagues and I from across the political parties were
disappointed by how the Government has rushed this Bill through
the House of Commons at the expense of time for proper scrutiny.
With such wide-ranging reforms that will have dramatic, lasting
consequences for children and families, the DfE's need for speed
should not have been prioritised over diligent examination of
evidence.”
The report also includes summaries of evidence heard regarding
other provisions of the Bill, including witnesses' view that the
proposed cap on residential care providers' profits should be
used as a last resort; a range of views on the changes to academy
freedoms including the repeal of academisation orders for
underperforming schools; and the requirement for all working
teachers to be either qualified or working towards Qualified
Teacher Status.
ENDS
Note to editors
MP has tabled new amendments to the
Bill which reflect the report's recommendations. The new
clauses and amendments may be voted on in the House of Commons
during its Report Stage, at a date to be confirmed, which will be
the last opportunity for MPs to make amendments before final
votes on the entire Bill. These amendments have been tabled in a
personal capacity rather than on behalf of the Committee.
