This was a lords amendment on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 strengthens protections for children in education. It introduces allergy-safety duties for schools, tightens safeguarding and data-sharing rules, updates support for looked-after and adopted children, and expands corporate parenting duties, while overhauling online safety rules for under-18s and setting school-related governance and cost rules. After lengthy negotiations between Parliament’s houses, it received Royal Assent and became law in 2026.
•- Allergy safety in schools: every school must have an allergy policy, publish it (including on their website), and review it annually; the duties extend to non-maintained special schools and independent schools through amendments to related acts.
•- Online safety and age controls: Lords pushed hard for age verification and a ban on certain online services for under-16s, while the Commons proposed in‑lieu powers for ISPs to restrict or block access and set timelines; the eventual package combined online-safety safeguards with duties for providers and data-protection protections.
•- Corporate parenting and safeguarding: strengthens the duties of local authorities toward looked-after and care-experience children; introduces guidance and collaboration requirements, with careful consideration of cross-border (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) involvement.
•- School admissions and cost rules: new or revised provisions on Published Admission Numbers (PANs) and how they are determined, plus debates over school uniform costs and mobile phone use in schools; some proposals to cap uniform costs were defeated in committee, while others were carried forward in in‑lieu amendments.
The House of Commons voted 254 to 144 to disagree with Lords amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, a move that keeps the government’s approach on safeguarding, education and child welfare intact. The Lords’ changes would have, among other things, required Welsh Senedd approval for certain Welsh regulations, allowed carer-status information to be included in the register of children not in school, and adjusted parliamentary controls over education regulations. One MP rebelled, voting against their party whip in this division, reflecting a rare deviation in this area of policy.
One MP voted against their party whipLords amendments would require Senedd approval for Welsh regulationsCarer-status information could appear in the register of children not in schoolDebate focused on parliamentary control of education regulations
AI-generated context — may contain errors.
Turnout by party
61%
Your Party
1/1 (100%)
Green Party
4/5 (80%)
Liberal Democrat
52/72 (72%)
Conservative
81/114 (71%)
Labour (Co-op)
252/401 (63%)
Independent
6/13 (46%)
Democratic Unionist Party
1/5 (20%)
Social Democratic & Labour Party
0/2 (0%)
What happens next?
The Lords amendment result is sent back to the other House for consideration.
