Schools Bill [HL]

Key Points

• Initial plan for wide academy standards and trust interventions was reduced as the Bill moved through the Lords.
• Committee-stage amendments introduced targeted protections: requiring religious-body consultation before interim trustees, a shorter 2-year notice for terminating secure 16–19 academy agreements, and tighter triggers on change of control or insolvency.
• Provisions dealing with home education (CNIS registers), safeguarding/data protections, and registration of independent providers were retained as areas for refinement, with calls for tighter definitions and sector engagement.
• In Report Stage, several core clauses (1–18) and Schedule 1–2 were proposed to be left out by peers, and Clause 20 was reframed as a duty to regulate governance of religious-character schools, with a new schedule to follow after further revisions.
• A government commitment to a Regulatory and Commissioning Review signalled that the policy would be rewritten and reintroduced with more limited change in the meantime.

Progress

The bill is at Report Stage in the Lords. After substantial changes in Committee Stage, peers have moved to delete many original provisions and shift to a narrower framework, with a plan to rework the policy through a Regulatory and Commissioning Review before any new provisions come back to Parliament.