The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Why Your MP Should Attend the Debate on 1 December
What this Bill could mean for families, schools and providers, and how to raise concerns.
This post is written based on information from the Stop the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Facebook page. It has been written with the assistance of AI to support clarity, fact-checking and accuracy.
Background to the 1 December Debate
On 1 December 2025 at 4.30 pm, Parliament will debate the petition to withdraw the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. This debate is taking place because 166,498 people signed a petition asking MPs to reconsider the Bill, raise concerns or prevent it from progressing in its current form.
It’s one of the few opportunities MPs have to examine the Bill as a whole, hear evidence from a range of perspectives and put questions or objections on record.
Whether your family is directly affected or not, this Bill touches many parts of education and childhood in England. Among other things, it introduces changes that affect home-educating families, children in Academies, children attending alternative or part-time provision, SEND families, out-of-school providers, schools with limited physical capacity and children whose data could be collected or shared under new powers. It also alters the balance of responsibility between families, schools, Local Authorities and central government.
Due to the range and depth of these changes, many people feel the Bill requires far greater scrutiny than it has received so far. The debate on 1 December is one of the only chances to ensure that scrutiny takes place.
This post offers a clear and detailed overview of the concerns that have been raised from across the education landscape, and explains why writing to your MP before 1 December is both appropriate and worthwhile.
Concerns about the Bill in its current form
These issues have been raised by parents, educators, safeguarding specialists, home-educators, legal experts, SEND organisations, out-of-school providers, Academy leaders and community groups. They are specific, concrete and based on real-world practice.
This is not an exhaustive list but it reflects the main areas where the Bill has caused widespread unease.
1. Expanded Local Authority powers where existing duties are not being met
Many Local Authorities already struggle to fulfil their current legal obligations in education, SEND and welfare. Families routinely face delays in assessments, incorrect decisions, misapplication of legal tests and failures to provide support set out in law. These problems are well-documented and ongoing.
The Bill gives LAs substantial new powers without addressing these systemic issues. It increases their authority to request home visits, make suitability decisions, gather information, restrict home education in certain circumstances and issue new penalties. Families who have already experienced poor decision-making fear being placed at greater risk of unfair treatment, with no strengthened oversight in return.
The concern is not that LAs have no role, but that expanding powers without improving competence, accountability or training may amplify current failings rather than resolve them.
2. A shift in the balance between parental responsibility and state oversight
For decades, English law has recognised that parents hold primary responsibility for their child’s education. The state steps in where there is evidence of safeguarding risk or educational neglect. The Bill introduces measures that, in practice, shift more authority towards the state and away from families, even where children are safe, well and learning appropriately.
This includes the potential for Local Authorities to require parental permission to home educate in some circumstances, more intrusive monitoring of home-educating families and broader criteria for deeming an education unsuitable.
Families who have been providing safe, effective education for years are concerned about unnecessary interference in private family life.
This is significant because the rights involved are fundamental: the right to family privacy, the right to choose an educational approach suited to a child’s needs and the right to make decisions without unjustified state intrusion.
3. Reduction of autonomy for Academies
Academies were established on the principle of flexibility and local autonomy. Many families choose them because their structure allows for distinct educational approaches, specialist expertise, innovative curriculum design and agile decision-making.
The Bill introduces frameworks that reduce this autonomy and place Academies under more centralised oversight. While consistency can be beneficial, this risks undermining a model that has worked well for many pupils, particularly in areas where local leadership has proven more responsive than national directives.
For parents who chose Academies precisely because of their independence, this is a significant change.
4. Impacts on part-time, alternative, therapeutic and flexible provision
A significant number of children access education partly or entirely outside mainstream schools. This includes:
• therapeutic environments
• specialist SEND provision
• part-time programmes
• tutoring centres
• nature-based or skills-based learning
• recovery environments for children struggling with attendance
• flexi-schooling arrangements
These settings often address needs that mainstream schools cannot meet, including anxiety, trauma, neurodivergence, sensory processing difficulties and complex learning profiles.
The Bill risks reclassifying some of these providers or bringing them under regulations they cannot meet, either financially or structurally. This could force closures or significantly restrict the kinds of provision children have access to. For many families, these are the only settings where their children feel safe, able to learn or able to rebuild confidence.
5. New reporting duties for out-of-school settings
This is one of the most far-reaching but least understood elements of the Bill. Under the proposed measures, an out-of-school provider may be required to report certain information if even one home-educated child attends.
Most organisations – sports clubs, youth groups, arts groups, church groups, holiday clubs, community projects – do not collect this information and have no valid reason to ask for it. They are not currently required to distinguish between children who are home educated, on a school rolll, EOTIS, attending part-time or registered elsewhere.
The Bill introduces:
• duties to report
• duties to classify children’s educational status
• financial penalties for incorrect information
This creates significant administrative and legal risks for settings that operate entirely outside the education system, often on voluntary or minimal budgets.
This means some settings may decide it is safer not to accept home-educated children if they are worried about reporting incorrectly and facing penalties.
6. Lack of a published Data Protection Impact Assessment
This is a fundamental issue. Despite the Bill introducing extensive data-sharing and data-collection powers relating to children and families, there is still no published Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA).
Without a DPIA, there is no clarity about:
• what data will be collected
• what systems will store it
• how long it will be kept
• how it will be protected
• where it may be shared
• whether other agencies may access it
• what parental consent means in practice
• how children’s rights will be upheld
Given the sensitivity of children’s data, the absence of an assessment is a major gap.
7. Requirements that exceed the physical capacity of many schools
Several provisions of the Bill require schools to offer services they may not have space or staffing for, such as breakfast clubs or expanded attendance programmes.
Many schools already:
• stagger lunch breaks because dining halls are too small
• operate without spare rooms
• face significant staffing shortages
• have buildings at or beyond capacity
The Bill does not account for these constraints. Schools are concerned about being held to standards they simply cannot meet, not due to unwillingness, but due to physical limitations.
8. Inadequate impact assessments
Multiple stakeholders, including legal experts and child-rights organisations, have expressed concern about the quality and completeness of:
• the Equality Impact Assessment
• the Children’s Rights Impact Assessment
• and, as noted, the missing DPIA
For legislation of this scale, these documents should be robust, detailed and evidence-based. At present, they are not.
9. Risk of destabilising arrangements that are currently working
Across home education, Academies, alternative provision, SEND support and community organisations, there are many children who are finally thriving after long periods of difficulty. Several parts of the Bill have the potential to destabilise these arrangements, not because the intentions are harmful, but because the practical implications have not been fully thought through.
For families who have spent years finding an environment where their child can learn safely and confidently, such instability is not a small matter.
Why the 1 December debate matters
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill has passed through the Commons and is now in the House of Lords. It completed Committee stage in September 2025 and is awaiting Report stage. The 1 December debate is taking place because over 100,000 people signed the petition asking for the Bill to be reconsidered.
The debate on 1 December does not decide the future of the Bill.
However, it does:
• place concerns formally on the parliamentary record
• require Ministers to respond publicly
• allow MPs to ask for clarity, evidence and safeguards
• influence future amendments
• show the level of public concern
• signal where the Bill is not workable in practice
MPs can only do this if they attend.
Writing to your MP
Writing to your MP now increases the likelihood that they will attend the debate and raise concerns while there is still time to influence what happens to the Bill. If they receive numerous letters from their constituents on the topic, they’re more likely to:
• prioritise attendance
• understand the local impact
• raise specific cases and questions
• scrutinise legislation more effectively
A concise, factual email is sufficient. You don’t need to argue every point or provide a lengthy essay. Simply stating that you would like them to attend the debate and outlining why the Bill matters to you and in your area is appropriate and helpful.
Below is a template email you can complete with your details and your MP’s details and send to your MP. Please feel free to personalise it or write your own. Apologies, you may lose the formatting when you copy and paste the template so it will possibly require a little re-working.
Template Email to Send to Your MP
You can download a PDF version of the MP letter template to cut and paste into an email here 👉:
Subject: Request to Attend the 1 December Debate on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
Dear [MP’s Name],
I am writing as your constituent to ask you to attend the debate on the petition to withdraw the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, taking place on 1 December 2025 at 4.30pm in Westminster Hall.
The Bill introduces wide-ranging changes affecting families, schools, Local Authorities, alternative provision and out-of-school settings. Many of the practical implications have not yet been clarified, and a number of organisations have raised concerns about the Bill’s feasibility, evidence base and impact on children.
In particular, I am concerned about the following:
• expanded Local Authority powers where current duties are already inconsistently met
• the shift in balance between parental responsibility and state oversight
• reduced autonomy for Academies
• potential restrictions on alternative, part-time or therapeutic provision
• new reporting duties and penalties for out-of-school settings
• the absence of a published Data Protection Impact Assessment
• requirements for schools that many cannot meet due to limits in staffing and physical capacity
• the adequacy of the Equality and Children’s Rights Impact Assessments
• the risk of destabilising arrangements that currently support children effectively
These are significant issues that deserve careful scrutiny. Your attendance at the debate would help ensure these concerns are properly represented and examined.
I would be grateful if you could confirm whether you are able to attend and raise these matters on behalf of constituents.
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
You can download a PDF version of the MP letter template to cut and paste into an email here 👉:
Upcoming Public Events Connected to the Bill
Two public gatherings have been organised in response to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. These events are intended to give families, educators and professionals an opportunity to show concern in a visible but orderly way. They are not affiliated with any political party and are open to anyone who wishes to attend.
1 December 2025 – Parliament Square
A small, peaceful gathering will take place opposite Parliament on the day of the debate.
Time: 1.00pm to 3.30pm
Location: Parliament, opposite Parliament Square, SW1P 3JX
Purpose:
• to show solidarity
• to demonstrate the level of public interest
• to give families and professionals a chance to be physically present nearby during the debate
This isn’t a march. It’s simply for people to gather, stand together and show a collective presence.
17 January 2026 – March and Rally in Central London
This is a larger, pre-planned event organised by campaign groups including Stop the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and Patience for Parents/Carers.
Assembly point: Meet from 12 noon at Russell Square to march at 1.00pm
March: From Russell Square towards Whitehall
Rally: Whitehall, 2.00pm to 5.00pm
Purpose:
• to raise awareness of concerns surrounding the Bill
• to allow affected families and professionals to share their experiences • to bring together people from different parts of the education sector (home educators, teachers, SEND families, out-of-school providers and others)
• to encourage continued scrutiny as the Bill progresses
Access and Participation
Both events are:
• peaceful
• public
• open to adults and families
• organised independently of political parties
You can find out more details and up-to-date information about these events on the Facebook page for Stop the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill:
https://www.facebook.com/stopthecwsbill
and their website:
https://www.stopcwsbill.co.uk/
Closing Note
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is broad and far-reaching. At the very least, such legislation deserves clear evidence, complete impact assessments, properly considered data safeguards and workable expectations for schools and providers. Many people do not feel confident that this is currently the case.
The upcoming debate is an opportunity for MPs to challenge unclear provisions, highlight practical concerns and request that the Bill be reconsidered or amended before further stages.
If you believe this Bill requires closer scrutiny, please write to your MP before 1 December, asking them to attend the debate.
The debate can be watched on Parliament TV from 4:30pm.
Thank you for reading.
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I shall write this morning, again, Anna, asking her to attend. Have a good day.
Good Morning, Anna. I have already written to my MP and The Education Minister about this Bill as it very concerning. This is taking away autonomy from families and from such schools as the excellent Michaela Academy. I can't get up to London from Cornwall but I shall watch events closely. This Bill is of huge importance and I have told as many people as I can to write to their MP's.