King’s Speech 2023: Key points for children and young people and what was missed
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
King Charles III has laid out the government’s plans for legislation impacting children and young people as part of his first King’s Speech as monarch.
Among 21 bills announced by Charles – the lowest number since 2014 – including seven carried over from last year’s speech were plans to create a “smoke free generation” for children currently aged 14 and under.
The speech also saw the government push forward with plans for an Advanced British Standard to replace A-levels and T-levels.
However, sector leaders have heavily criticised the government over its failure to mention areas including child poverty, mental health and children’s social care.
CYP Now looks at the key points made in the King’s Speech and what was missed:
Advanced British Standard
King Charles reiterated the government’s plans to “strengthen education for the long term and ensure young people have knowledge and skills to success through introduction of Advanced British Standard”.
The qualification, which was first announced at the Conservative Party’s annual conference last month would see all 16-to 19-year-olds in England typically study five subjects as part of including some English and maths to 18.
The National Education Union (NEU) hit out at the inclusion of the standard in the speech.
Daniel Kebede, NEU general secretary said: “Without sufficient teachers to teach, the Prime Minister’s ambition for a new Advanced British Standard will not be met.
“There are simply not enough English and maths teachers to educate 11-16-year-olds, let alone A-level students.”
Smoke-free generation
King Charles also reiterated Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s conference pledge to increase age restrictions on buying tobacco every year in a bid to stop sales entirely.
He also said the government would crack down on the marketing of vapes aimed at children.
John Pearce, president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, said: “We do welcome the government’s ambition to create a ‘smoke free generation’ which, if achieved, will be positive for children.”
Online safety
“My ministers will introduce legislation to empower police forces and the criminal justice system to prevent new or complex crimes, such as digital-enabled crime and child sexual abuse, including grooming,” King Charles told MPs, referring to the Criminal Justice Bill.
In response to the speech, Mark Russell, chief executive of the Children’s Society, said: “It is good to see the focus of policing on preventing child abuse and exploitation but it must come together with a greater investment into early intervention services for children and young people.”
Illegal Migration Act
The speech also highlighted plans to push forward with the Illegal Migration Act with the King saying: “My government will deliver on the Illegal Migration Act passed earlier this year and on international agreements, to stop dangerous and illegal Channel crossings and ensure it is the government, not criminal gangs, who decides who comes to this country.”
The Act has sparked criticism over its treatment of children who arrive in the UK as unaccompanied migrants and over proposals for more stringent age assessment for unaccompanied children suspected of being over the age of 18.
Russell said: “No child needing protection should be treated as a criminal and we urge the government to make child safety a clear priority with the Illegal Migration Act.”
What was missing from the speech?
Tackling child poverty
Despite stating “my government will continue to take action to bring down inflation, to ease the cost of living for families and help businesses fund new jobs and investment”, the speech contained little detail on plans to tackle increasing numbers of children living in poverty.
Russell said: “The King’s Speech missed the mark entirely. Life is too hard for too many children and British children are more and more unhappy with their lives. We need radical change, and we need it now.
“It’s a harsh reality: as living costs soar, more families are drowning in debt and hitting crisis levels. This was the chance for a big, bold move to help those struggling the most – especially young people. Parents are still being forced to choose between feeding their families and keeping them warm, and that’s a choice no one should have to make.”
Pearce added: “Unfortunately the speech missed an opportunity to focus on a significant long term challenge affecting children, their health, wellbeing and their ability to learn in school today – poverty.”
Youth homelessness
The King’s Speech did not make mention of plans announced to crack down on homelessness by Home Secretary Suella Braverman earlier this week.
Alicia Walker, head of policy, research and campaigns at Centrepoint said: "The government started the week with a bad plan for replacing the Vagrancy Act and it looks like they'll end it with no plan at all.
"The Home Secretary's intervention looked at street homelessness as a public nuisance when the truth is it is a political problem with political answers. The government recognised this when it pledged to end rough sleeping in its manifesto and the fact that they look set to break that pledge should be their only focus now.”
School repairs
The speech also failed to address ongoing concerns around dangerous concrete in schools and issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers.
The NEU’s Kebede added: “Schools are underfunded, understaffed and crumbling. This is a result of persistent neglect.
“Buildings are deteriorating and in desperate need of repair. Staff are leaving in high numbers, and the government is consistently missing its own targets for new teachers.
“Real-terms pay cuts not only add to the strain of working lives, but the high workload drives teachers out of the profession and makes it harder for leaders to find replacements. Schools are forced to use teachers who are not qualified in the subject they teach. This clearly takes its toll on pupils’ education.”
Mental health
While Charles said the government would work with NHS England to deliver “its plans to cut waiting lists and transform the long-term workforce of the National Health Service”, there was no specific mention of tackling increasing rates of youth mental health.
We are deeply disappointed that the #KingsSpeech contained no commitment to introduce a Mental Health Bill to reform the Mental Health Act.
— Children & Young People's Mental Health Coalition (@CYPMentalHealth) November 7, 2023
This is yet another mental health commitment abandoned by gov. Read our joint response with 56 of our members ⬇️https://t.co/OYClqQsvpx
Children’s social care
Planned reforms for children’s social care under the government’s response to the Care Review were not mentioned in the speech.
Nothing on children’s social care. Nothing to support young people leaving care. Again. Almost like children and young people aren’t a political priority…. https://t.co/YuDX3LcdqP
— Katharine Sacks-Jones (@KatharineSJ) November 7, 2023
Childcare
There was no mention of childcare or early years in the King’s Speech.
Further details around government plans for the coming year will be announced in Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement on 22 November.
