Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Key Takeaways for Agencies

The Children’s Wellbeing and School Bill (‘the Bill’) was introduced in December 2024 and had its first reading at the House of Lords on 19 March 2025. The Bill aims to enhance children safeguarding and strengthen educational standards in England.

Education Sector Changes

Teacher Qualification Requirements

The Bill proposes to make amendments to the Education Act 2002 to extend the requirement for all new teachers to have or be working towards Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and have completed a statutory induction period. This requirement currently only applies to Local Authority maintained and non-maintained schools in England but will be extended to academies. If the Bill is to be enacted, this change will come into force on 1 September 2026. Supply teachers placed on assignments before the implementation date will be exempt for the duration of their ongoing assignments. The duty will apply at the start of any new assignments after the implementation date.

Academy Pay

The Bill will extend Statutory School Teachers Pay and Conditions Framework to academies. The current framework is only appliable to Local Authority maintained schools in England. This reflects the fact that most academy trusts currently already follow the statutory framework.

Child Employment Amendments

The Bill proposes updates to regulations governing the employment of children in England through amendments to the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. Through this change, the Government aims to reflect contemporary working patterns which will allow flexibility for young workers. The Bill proposes the following amendments:

• An extension to working hours for children from 7pm to 8pm;
• A lifting of the existing two-hour restriction on Sunday working; and
• A replacement of Local Authority byelaws through introducing a unified set of national regulations to allow the streamlining of child employment permits.

The education sector changes included within the Bill illustrate the Government’s aim to introduce measures that will bring consistency within the sector. REC members are already subject to a statutory duty under the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses 2003 (“Conduct Regulations 2003”) to ensure that work-seekers they introduce and/or supply to Local Authority Schools have the relevant qualifications required for the role, as such the extension of the same qualification requirements to Academies provides some consistency in the level of checks education sector members must carry out.

Social Work Changes

Regulating use of Agency Workers in Children’s Social Care

The Bill will grant the Secretary of State authority to set new regulations in secondary legislation concerning the employment of agency workers in local authority children’s social care services in England. The Bill aims to provide the Secretary of State with the power to potentially introduce regulations that will:

• Specify qualification requirements for agency workers; and
• Determine terms under which agency workers are supplied to local authorities with the introduction of price caps on pay rates and supply fees.

These provisions are currently set out in statutory guidance which has been in force since October 2024 with full implementation scheduled for 1 October 2025.

Next Steps?

The Bill is scheduled for a second reading in the House of Lords on 1 May 2025. With some of the measures in the Bill subject to secondary legislation, the Government confirmed that it would engage in public consultation before the implementation of any secondary legislation in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill Policy Summary Notes.

How should REC members prepare?

As the Bill nears implementation, members, especially those placing staff within the education or child and family social care sectors, should consider the following:

1.     Continuous compliance with their Conduct Regulations 2003 duties to ensure work-seekers have the relevant qualifications and conduct requirements needed for their teaching and/or social roles;

2.     Members who work with academy trusts that do not follow the current pay and conditions statutory framework should begin evaluating their margins and terms of business. REC members using REC Model Contracts 3 and 3A, may be able to rely on clause 6.2 in recovering the costs of statutory payments from clients.

Clause 6.2 states the following: 

“6.2 The Employment Business reserves the right to vary the Charges agreed with the Hirer, by giving written notice to the Hirer: 

6.2.1 in order to comply with any additional liability imposed by statute or other legal requirement or entitlement, including but not limited to the AWR, the WTR and the Pensions Act 2008; and/or 

6.2.2 if there is any variation in the Relevant Terms and Conditions.

3.    Members supplying child and family social workers should ensure compliance with the statutory guidance which should be implemented by 1 October 2025.

The Bill is set to reshape the landscape for education and children’s services in England. For recruitment businesses, this is a critical opportunity to adapt and align with best practices in preparation for the upcoming changes.

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