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As Children’s Commissioner for England, my goal is to make sure every child grows up safe, happy, healthy, and with the best possible chances in life. Across my work I have heard from a million children about what they need to thrive. 

The passing of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act represents a significant moment. It brings together reforms across safeguarding, schools, children’s social care, and online safety. These are areas where children have repeatedly told me they want adults to do better. I welcome the ambition behind this Act. It reflects many of the priorities I have championed on behalf of children. 

But now the real work begins. Because while many of the intentions in the legislation are right and noble, what will matter is the ambition with which they are delivered. This must be the start of a reform programme that allows us to finally tackle the perennial problems identified after too many tragic deaths of children, too many children who fall between gaps, for whom nobody takes responsibility, and who are perhaps seen but never truly helped. 

Children’s Social Care 

Joined-up working 

I welcome the introduction of statutory multi‑agency child protection teams and the introduction of a single unique identifier for children across services. These reforms reflect what I have long called for in my work on safeguarding and early help: that children are best protected when professionals work together seamlessly, with the right information at the right time.  

However, for these measures to truly realise this ambition, a single unique identifier must be implemented for all children, not just those in contact with social care, so that they can receive better join-up across their health and education, and to ensure professionals can identify opportunities to help them at the very earliest stage. 

Children deprived of liberty 

The introduction of a new form of secure accommodation represents an important change to the statutory framework governing the deprivation of liberty of children. My report on Children with complex needs who are deprived of liberty showed that systemic weaknesses in the current arrangements result in looked after children too often being moved between inadequate illegal homes, often far away from home, without the proper care and support they deserve. 

The additional flexibility that the new accommodation will bring is one piece of the puzzle. However, there will be delays while this accommodation is built, leaving too many children stuck in unsuitable placements today, and we must get better at intervening before such provisions are needed. It is vital that regulations governing the use of this accommodation ensure it is only used when absolutely necessary, and that restrictions are in place for as short a period as possible. 

Siblings 

Provisions to improve sibling contact are a welcome step. My report The Children’s Plan: Vision for care called on the Government to place greater emphasis on sibling relationships. The Act places a clearer duty on local authorities to promote and maintain meaningful relationships between siblings, whether they live together or apart. This reflects what children told me: that staying connected to brothers and sisters is not a “nice to have”, but a fundamental part of feeling safe and loved. 

More can be done to prioritise sibling relationships. My report Siblings in care highlighted that 32% of children with a sibling are separated from them when in care. While promoting and maintaining relationships is a welcome step, an increase in the number of placements which can take siblings together every time it is safe to do so must remain our focus when looking to deliver safe and loving family homes. 

Care leavers 

For care leavers, placing Staying Close on a statutory footing will help some to navigate a significant point of challenge in their journey to adulthood. Care leavers have told me that the move to adulthood can feel abrupt and isolating. For some, turning 18 can feel less like independence and more like a cliff edge.  

The recently announced Review into deaths of vulnerable care leavers starkly highlights how acutely important it is for us to do better by children who turn 18 in care. Staying Close is one step to ensuring young people entering adulthood in care keep the trusted relationships, practical help, and sense of belonging they have built with the adults who know them best. 

Schools 

I welcome the Act’s focus on attendance, teacher standards, and regulation of unregistered settings. My work on attendance has shown that children want to be in school, but they need the right support to get there.  

A compulsory register for children not in school is an important safeguarding measure, and one I have called for since the tragic death of Sara Sharif. I firmly believe that it will allow us to ensure families have flexibility while keeping children safe. I am still concerned that opportunities were missed about requiring consent for all children identified as at risk to be withdrawn from school, so there cannot be complacency that this will keep all children safe. 

The requirement for free breakfast clubs in every primary school is also a positive step. Children tell me that hunger affects their ability to learn, concentrate, and feel ready for the day, and breakfast clubs have a wide impact across school communities. This measure will make a real difference. 

Schools are often the place where safeguarding concerns are first identified, where children build trusted relationships with adults, and where early help can be most effectively coordinated. I had therefore hoped to see education named as a fourth statutory safeguarding partner in the Act and called for this in my Briefing for Peers. I am disappointed by the decision to instead name education settings as ‘relevant partners’ in the legislation, which does not put them on an equal footing with social care, health and police. This misses a key opportunity for better joined up working to protect children from harm. 

In 2025 I used my statutory powers to ask schools and colleges a set of questions. Based on their answers my Children’s Plan sets out what is needed to broaden the understanding of additional needs so that children with needs that the system currently does not recognise, such as bereavement, receive the support they need to access their education fully. 

Protecting Children in a Digital World 

Children are clear when I talk to them about the online world: they want to be safe online, but they also want adults to understand the realities of their digital lives. 

The Act’s provisions to restrict access to harmful online services and update rules around children’s data are welcome. But children need protections that reflect the pace of technological change. I would like to see stronger duties on platforms to design with children’s safety in mind and clearer expectations around age assurance. 

The ban on smartphones in school is a step to more directly regulate how children engage with the technology in their lives. As my previous research has shown, the overwhelming majority of schools were already restricting device use. I will be engaging with the Government to understand how this proposed ban will play out in practice, and I am hopeful that the change in legislation will help more children to have protected time away from their devices. However, the onus must remain on those who create online spaces to make sure they are safe for children. 

I welcome the Government’s commitment to continue to examine how we keep children safe online and stand ready to engage with them on this. Children’s digital lives are their real lives. Their safety online must be treated with the same seriousness as their safety offline. 

Next steps 

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act is a major step forward. It reflects many of the priorities children themselves have raised with me. But as this Act begins to translate to practice, we have a rare opportunity to be even more ambitious. 

My next survey of all children in England, The Big Future, launches on Friday 8th May. I am looking forward to understanding more about children’s hopes and worries for the future, and I will use the results of the survey to show why government must act with urgency to turn the intentions of this Act into tangible change for children. There are children at risk of harm today, for whom these provisions are long overdue. The real work must now begin.