Early on in this Labour Government, it has been necessary to advance the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, having its second reading in Parliament today. This Bill is based in the Department for Education, and will safeguard children, not least those who are currently not on the school roll and those most at risk of exploitation. The measures in this Bill will ensure that children receive extensive protections by the state so no child is unaccounted for, while also strengthening the children social care system and limiting the ability of private providers to profit out of the system. I will therefore be voting today to ensure that children are kept safe in our community and across the country.
Having read the 123 pages of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, it puts in place foundations to a far more comprehensive system of support for children, something I am pleased that City of York Council are also advancing in our city. Our Council has ended the use of agency workers in social care, so that children can have better joined up support.
After the Conservatives presided over the closure of over a third of Children Centres, Labour will invest in early help for families once more. We know it makes a real difference and it is heartening to see the number of children in care reduce in York due to the outstanding work of social services teams and interventions from non-statutory organisations. Nothing could be more important than keeping children safe.
The Bill will further introduce breakfast clubs in schools so all children in primary education will be able to have a good start to their day socialising with other children while receiving a nutritious meal and parents will be relieved to know that we will reduce the branding on school uniforms to just three items, cutting the costs of going to school. Alongside these reforms, Labour will start its reforms on Academy Trusts, building greater accountability into the system.
It is early days for this Labour Government and I will continue to work hard with families and children’s workers across York to ensure that we build the very best system for our local children, giving them the best start in life and opportunities for their future. Many will know that I have been undertaking work on children with Special Educational Need and Disabilities, anxiety and children with care experience. In talking to Ministers, I know there is much more we need to do together to make a difference for all families.
In response to some of the headlines generated about this Bill, some have raised the heinous crime of child sexual exploitation. I start by saying that anyone who seeks to exploit or harm a child must face the full force of the law. Government carried out a very comprehensive national review, the ‘Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation’, as a response of the crimes committed against children. This is the most comprehensive review of its kind, having taken 7 years to reach its conclusions through 15 separate inquiries. The report was published in October 2022 with 20 robust recommendations. The last Government failed to implement them.
Labour, however, believed that this was a priority, so have undertaken much work to ensure that children are kept safe. Labour has already confirmed how it will report progress to Parliament on the implementation of the 20 cross-cutting recommendations and see this Bill as a first step, having promised more measures to be introduced in the forthcoming Crime and Justice Bill. I highly recommend people read the full report by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation, and its recommendations, so that you can understand that the work has already been carried out and then follow the progress reports to see how it is being implemented. For ease, I attach a link to the website of the report https://www.iicsa.org.uk/index.html. If anyone suspects harm to a child, then it is vital that it is reported. If there is more to be done, I assure you that this Government will always seek to keep every child safe.