Louise Haigh, MP for Sheffield Heeley, has voiced her full support for Labour’s landmark Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill, a transformative piece of legislation designed to make children’s wellbeing the heart of government policy. As the Bill progresses through Parliament, Louise has praised its potential to deliver long-overdue reforms to safeguard vulnerable children and ease the burden on families.

The focus of Labour’s Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill is to make ‘child-centred government’ a reality through a series of reforms.

In response to a number of shocking cases of children being failed by a disjointed system over recent years, the government has also brought forward a number of measures within the bill to protect children at risk of abuse and stop vulnerable children falling through the cracks.

These include Introducing a register of children not in school and a unique number for every Child, increasing regulation and inspection of independent schooling and cases of serious teacher misconduct, improving information sharing across and within agencies, strengthening multi-agency safeguarding arrangements and implementing multi-agency child protection teams. 

Within the bill are a number of measures to cut the cost of sending children to school and make life easier for families across Sheffield, notably including a cap on the number of branded school uniform items. It comes as research shows almost half of parents are concerned by the cost of uniforms and over 1 in 10 experience financial hardship as a result. Estimates show the legislation could save parents over £50 per child on the back to school shop. Accompanied by Labour’s plan for free breakfast clubs in primary schools, to save families an estimated £450 per year per child, the bill contains measures that could keep a sizeable £500 in parents’ pockets. 

In addition to steps to ease the burden on families, the government has outlined a number of reforms to schools in order to drive high and rising standards. This includes putting more qualified, expert teachers at the front of classrooms and rolling out a new, cutting-edge national curriculum designed to ensure young people are ready for work and ready for life.

Louise Haigh  MP for Sheffield Heeley said:

“This Bill is nothing short of transformative. It is the single biggest leap forward in child protection and wellbeing in a generation. For too long, I have seen the devastating consequences of children being let down by broken systems. It’s time to put that right.

“Since my election in 2015, I have campaigned relentlessly for better child protections. I’ve witnessed firsthand the failures of a disjointed system. Just recently, I’ve worked with a constituent in the midst of a mental health crisis—her nine-year-old son, out of school for over a month, was left to act as her sole carer. In another harrowing case, I supported a child abandoned in a foreign country, out of education, and without financial support.

“These stories are not isolated. They are the result of 14 years of Tory inaction. This Bill changes that. By ensuring agencies work together, regulating independent schools, and providing direct support to families, we are taking vital steps to protect our children and rebuild trust in our systems.

“Parents across Sheffield and beyond deserve the peace of mind that comes with knowing their children are safe, supported, and set up to succeed. This legislation is a commitment to that vision. It will ensure no child is left to fall through the cracks again.”