Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

The provision of free breakfast clubs acts as a childcare subsidy, likely increasing labor market participation among parents. However, the powers to limit profits of private care providers and regulate agency worker costs constitute major market interventions; while intended to reduce rent-seeking and public expenditure, they risk causing capital flight or supply shortages in the care sector if private providers exit the market due to reduced returns.

The bill introduces substantial new costs through the funding of free breakfast clubs and the administrative burden of new regulatory regimes (e.g., registers for home-schooled children). Conversely, the provisions to cap profits for children's home providers and regulate agency social worker fees are direct attempts to control the soaring costs that are currently destabilising local authority budgets, though the net fiscal impact depends on the effectiveness of these price controls.

The bill addresses systemic inequities by extending support for care leavers up to age 25 and granting them priority need for housing, correcting a long-standing gap in state support. Furthermore, capping branded school uniform costs and providing free breakfasts directly alleviates the poverty premium for low-income families, while requiring Academies to teach the National Curriculum ensures a standardized educational entitlement for all students regardless of school type.

The legislation restricts autonomy across several domains: it mandates a register for home-educated children (reducing parental privacy), bans smartphones in schools, and introduces a prohibition on providing VPN services to children. While these measures are justified on safeguarding grounds, they represent a substantial shift of authority from parents and individuals to the state regarding how children are educated and how they access the digital world.

By mandating allergy safety policies (including adrenaline auto-injectors), banning smartphones to potentially improve mental health and focus, and ensuring nutritional starts to the day via breakfast clubs, the bill directly addresses immediate physical and mental well-being. Additionally, the 'staying close' support for care leavers and improved kinship care provisions are likely to provide crucial stability for the most vulnerable children, reducing homelessness and social isolation.

The provisions regarding school uniforms might marginally reduce textile waste if they lead to a reduction in the purchase of specific branded items, but this is a second-order effect. Overall, the bill contains no substantive measures aimed at environmental protection, transport emissions, or energy efficiency within the school estate.