The 40 bills in the King’s Speech, alongside manifesto pledges, are set to form the backbone of new Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson’s policy agenda over the coming parliamentary session.
Several bills target issues for children, young people and families, including the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, the Mental Health Bill and legislation to curb junk food advertising.
However, according to entrepreneur and children’s welfare campaigner Paul Lindley, who is co-chairing a review of children’s play alongside Anne Longfield, executive chair of the Commission for Young Lives, improving the life chances of the UK’s youngest citizens runs right through the government’s legislative agenda.
He says: “Commitments in the King’s Speech, from the smoking ban and investing in breakfast clubs to recruiting more teachers and building 1.5 million new homes, can benefit children and young people significantly. The broader economic and social vision that Labour is committed to makes me hopeful that…children are key to a successful future.”
Here’s a sector-by-sector breakdown of the key measures for children and families.
Early years
There was little in the King’s Speech about childcare.
Despite this, Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, says bills to improve employment rights will impact the childcare sector.
“The plans to scrap the minimum wage age bands will be good news to younger employees,” says Tanuku. “However, this will increase early years providers’ costs significantly. The government – who will be purchasing 80% of childcare places later this year – must make sure that these costs are included in funding rates for 2025.
“The government is keen to raise educational standards and this work must start by supporting children’s early development and learning.”
Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust, says it makes good economic and social sense to invest in policies that give children the best start to life.
“To deliver sustained economic growth, one of the things the government must do is advance social mobility to significantly increase opportunity for future generations,” he says. “This will require substantial policy action and investment from the early years to the workplace, including equalising access to early education and childcare.”
Health
The Mental Health Bill seeks to “reduce waiting times, focus on prevention and improve mental health provision for young people”.
It will modernise the Mental Health Act 1983 and “ensure that detention and treatment under the act takes place only when necessary”.
It will also end the practice of using police stations and prisons to detain people, including young people, under welfare grounds.
Charlotte Rainer, manager at the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, says updating the 1983 act is long overdue.
“Reforming the act provides a vital opportunity to strengthen the rights and safeguards for those admitted to mental health hospitals – particularly for children placed in inappropriate settings and in adult wards – and to re-balance the system to one that prioritises and promotes voice and choice in their treatment,” she says.
Rainer adds that the introduction of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill “holds great potential” to improve children and young people’s mental health in education settings.
“Not only should this include the roll out of mental health support in all schools and colleges, but commitments to embed whole school and college approaches to mental health to ensure education settings actively promote, protect and support the mental health of their students and staff,” she says.
Charity YoungMinds highlights the need for the new legislation to tackle long waiting times for treatment. “In the meantime, the government must make it easier to get support, which is why we will be calling for mental health support hubs to be rolled out in every area as soon as possible,” says YoungMinds chief executive, Laura Bunt.
The Centre for Mental Health backed the government’s commitment to improve mental health support in schools and says this should include adopting mentally healthy policies to attendance and behaviour.
The Teenage Cancer Trust says the planned reforms must also consider the needs of teenagers and young adults with cancer. Its chief executive, Kate Collins, says: “Young people need the government to create a long-term cancer strategy that includes a commitment to ensure teenagers and young adults are diagnosed faster and can access expert mental health support.”
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health welcomed the government’s plans to resurrect its predecessor’s legislation to ban junk food advertising and energy drink sales and curtail the sale of smoking and vaping products to future generations,
“It is clear that we need direct and meaningful change in the way we approach the health and wellbeing of our young people,” says Royal College president, Steve Turner. “We’re encouraged to see a focus on children, including on smoking and vaping, obesity and mental health.”
Education
The Children’s Wellbeing Bill includes measures for a new duty placed on all schools to “co-operate” with councils on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inclusion and place planning.
Amanda Allard, director of the Council for Disabled Children at the National Children’s Bureau, says: “We urge the government to use this opportunity to increase teachers’ knowledge of SEND and inclusion.
“The ambition to raise educational standards is positive but must not come into conflict with the rights of all children, including those with SEND, to a high-quality education and to have their progress and merits valued.”
Tackling barriers to learning and attainment for economically disadvantaged children will also be a key aspect of the government-commissioned review of the school curriculum and assessment system.
Under the bill, primary schools will be required to provide free breakfasts for all children while a limit is proposed on the number of branded items required to be purchased for children as part of school uniform.
Mark Russell, chief executive at The Children’s Society, says: “We have long been campaigning for a national measurement of children’s wellbeing and including this component in the bill will be essential to the legislation’s success.
“We were instrumental in changing the law to make school uniforms more affordable for all children, and it is encouraging to see the government’s focus on initiatives to reduce the financial burden on families.”
The commitment to reform the Apprenticeship Levy has also been welcomed. Steve Chalke, founder of youth charity Oasis, says since the levy’s launch in 2017, the number of young people starting an apprenticeship has fallen.
“Left as it is the levy will continue to undermine our economic recovery,” he says. “If we get it right, it will boost our productivity, fuel our economic growth and transform the life chances of millions of young people.”
Sheila Clark, chief executive of education charity Career Connect, says the government’s commitment to devolve more decision-making to regional mayors and councils could help local authorities develop locally focussed solutions to tackle young people not in education, employment and training.
Social care
The Children’s Wellbeing Bill also includes a commitment to develop a statutory definition of child criminal exploitation, which the Children’s Society says can “help protect the tens of thousands of children exploited into a life of criminality and violence”.
Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, welcomed the pledge to improve multi-agency partnerships which “when working effectively can protect children in their schools, communities and homes”.
Andy Smith, president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), says the bill “sends a strong signal to children that the government values them and their contribution to society”.
Children’s services leaders also welcomed plans to create a register of “children not in school”, which Wanless says “will help keep the most vulnerable children safe and ensure families who elect to educate at home don’t miss out on appropriate support”.
Anne Longfield also praised the move: “By creating a duty on local authorities to have and maintain ‘children not in school’ registers, we will have a much better understanding of where children are, how best to support their needs and ensure they are receiving a good education.”
Child poverty campaigners were left disappointed that the government failed to scrap the two-child cap on benefits, however the creation of a Child Poverty Taskforce was welcomed.
Paul Carberry, chief executive at Action for Children, says: “It’s right the new taskforce works across government to look at the drivers and solutions to child poverty. This should include breaking down the barriers to work many parents face and investing in social security.”
Smith adds: “While the establishment of a taskforce is promising, ADCS has been advocating for the eradication of poverty and strongly urges the new government to prioritise addressing the underlying causes of poverty, rather than merely treating the symptoms.”
Youth work and youth justice
The Crime and Policing Bill includes a raft of measures to tackle issues that affect young people including knife crime, anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls.
It also includes the commitment to create the Young Futures Programme – a network of youth hubs to support young people and avoid them being drawn into violence and crime.
Chalke praises the plans: “Oasis, like others, already runs youth clubs, as well as placing youth workers and mentors in some emergency departments of hospitals, but the ambition to expand and deepen this work, through what has been nicknamed ‘SureStart for teenagers’, will be a revolution.”
Young Futures is based on recommendations from the Commission for Young Lives inquiry last year. Longfield says: “Too many vulnerable children and young people are slipping through the cracks at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence. I believe it [Young Futures] will be transformative in helping to prevent young people from being drawn into crime and harm.”
Jacob Diggle, UK Youth chief impact officer, says youth work can play an important role in delivering the reforms. “We urge the government to invest in youth work for the benefit of young people nationwide – UK Youth’s research has shown increasing investment in youth work can save billions of pounds by improving employment and health outcomes, and reducing crime,” he adds.
