For too long, baked-in inequalities have been left to fester in our education and care systems.
Every day, families are battling to get their first-choice school, forking out for costly uniforms – and even more costly childcare, or seeing children fall through the cracks of a care system that is supposed to support them.
I know it’s not good enough.
My driving force is breaking the link between a child’s background and the success they achieve, and our Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently going through Parliament, will do exactly that.
The laws within it are integral to our Plan for Change, which aims to improve protections for vulnerable children, drive up standards in schools and put cash back in working parents’ pockets.
Here are just some of the ways our plans will benefit you and your family:
Better access to high-quality education
Trying to get a place at your first-choice local school is an all-too familiar challenge for so many parents.
Of course, a place at any one school can’t be guaranteed, but that shouldn’t mean children going without a brilliant education.
Our new laws will enable councils and schools to work together better to make sure there are enough school places in the local area and that children without a place can get one quickly.
Councils will also be able to open all types of school, not just academies, so they can meet the needs of local parents.
We are making sure that every child is taught by a fully qualified teacher, and that all schools use the national curriculum. Many currently don’t need to. These changes will create a stronger, more accessible school system, with higher standards, focused on delivering the best local offer for local children and families.
But we know that some children may still be at risk of falling through the cracks. That’s why we are introducing registers of children not in school, to give us a better understanding of which children are consistently absent and whether they might need additional support. Each child will be given a unique identifying number, in order to join up systems and put a stop to children vanishing from education.
Breaking down financial barriers
Every day, some children arrive at school without having eaten breakfast, leaving them unable to focus and not ready to learn.
Meanwhile, sky-high branded uniform costs have put financial pressure on parents and forced children to arrive in ill-fitting or worn-out clothes, leaving them feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable throughout the school day.
These laws will change that.
Our new breakfast clubs will be free and universal in every primary school, saving parents as much as £450 a year, with 30 minutes of free childcare and a nutritious meal to start the school day.
The benefits of breakfast clubs are huge, from helping with flexible working for families, to improving behaviour, attendance and attainment. That’s why we’ve already started this vital work, with 750 schools due to kickstart the rollout from April.
On top of this, a new cap on expensive branded uniform items will make sure you have as much flexibility as possible to shop around and save.
From next year, primary schools will be able to require a maximum of three branded items, and secondary schools will have the option to include an additional item if one of those is a tie – which could save you over £50 per child during the back-to-school shop.
Supporting families to stay together
For some families, the most important and valuable support any government can offer is protecting their children during times of crisis.
We’ve inherited a cycle of crisis intervention that is letting too many families down. We must be better at preventing issues before they escalate to crisis point.
Under these new laws, families will be able to rely on accessing the help they need to keep their family together.
We are making it a requirement for local authorities to offer all parents of children who are at risk of entering the care system the chance to attend ‘family group decision making’ meetings.
These meetings will give all families an opportunity to come together and make a plan, working alongside professionals, prioritising the wellbeing of the child.
These changes will mean disjointed services will no longer stand in the way, and earlier intervention will mean more families can be supported to stay together.
And for families who have no other option but entering the care system, the bill will also support the government’s crackdown on excessive profit-making by children’s social care providers, including introducing a backstop law to potentially cap the profit providers can make.
No more words, and no more lessons learnt.
This is a child-centred government, and we are taking action to put your children, and your family, first.