What is the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill - and how could it impact Children’s Social Care?

Reform in children’s social care is one of the most prominent topics in the sector now, with the introduction of new statutory guidance by the Department for Education (DfE) in October 2024. As well as proposals to replace the current ASYE (Assessed and Supported Year in Employment) with a new two-year support scheme.

Another key element of reform is being proposed through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was introduced in Parliament on 17th December 2024. Part One of the bill includes proposed reforms to children’s social care, many of which were anticipated in the policy paper Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive, published in November 2024.

Below are a few ways the bill aims to reform Children’s Social Care:

Regulation

The bill would allocate new powers to Ofsted in relation to parent undertakings, for example, where more than one setting is owned or controlled by the same private or voluntary provider group.

This would place a duty on parent undertakings to develop and implement a clear improvement plan where Ofsted has identified quality issues across multiple settings and suspects there are grounds for cancelling registration in relation to those settings.

If parent undertakings fail to meet these requirements, Ofsted would have the power to issue an unlimited monetary penalty. This would enable Ofsted to take stronger action against unregistered children's homes.

Additionally, the bill introduces new powers for Ofsted to impose penalties for breaches of the Care Standards Act 2000, including the operation of unregistered children's homes. The aim is to give Ofsted a quicker alternative to prosecution in such cases.

Agency Workers

The bill also seeks to introduce reforms regarding the engagement of agency social workers in children's services. It would provide the Secretary of State with the power to make regulations - applicable to all English local authorities - governing the use of agency workers in children’s social care.

These regulations could require agency workers to meet specific criteria, such as having a certain level of post-qualifying experience and adhering to regional “cooling-off” periods when leaving permanent roles. They may also include provisions on how agency workers are managed and the terms under which they are supplied to local authorities.

If and when the bill becomes law, these regulations will replace the rules introduced by the Department for Education in October 2024.

Family Group Decision-Making

The bill proposes adding a new section to the Children Act 1989, placing a duty on local authorities that are considering a court application for a care or supervision order. Under this provision, they would be required to offer a Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) meeting to the child’s parent or anyone with parental responsibility.

The aim of the FGDM meeting is to provide an opportunity for the child’s family and community to come together, discuss the child’s welfare needs, and collaboratively respond to concerns regarding the child’s well-being.

Child protection and safeguarding

The bill also seeks to amend the Children Act 2004 by adding a requirement for safeguarding partners (local authority, NHS integrated care board, and police) to include education and childcare "relevant agencies" as mandatory participants. Currently, safeguarding partners only must do this if they deem it appropriate.

These are just a few of the ways the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools bill aims to reform children’s social care. To find out more, contact the Head of QSW at Commercial Services Group at cieran.donnelly@csltd.org.uk.