Members of the House of Lords demonstrated strong cross-party support for children and young people’s wellbeing measurement during the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill debate last week. Ten peers explicitly mentioned the campaign, making it the single most mentioned item that isn’t present in the Bill. Many more expressed sentiments supportive of our aim!

Baroness Claire Tyler of Enfield emphasised the advantages for tracking national progress and supporting detailed local cross-agency service planning.

Esteemed thinkers on education policy, economics and wellbeing, including Lord David Blunkett, Lord Richard Layard and Baroness Anne Longfield, raised key points in support of wellbeing measurement. 

As Baroness Ruth Lister of Burtersett pointed out, the Bill aims to deliver on the government’s mission of breaking down barriers to opportunity. In her view, “a holistic measure of child wellbeing could play a valuable role here.” Other noble Lords who showed their support on the floor of the house include former Sports Minister Lord Colin Moynihan, Baroness Christine Blower, Baroness Amanda Sater, Baroness Joan Walmsley and former Employment Minister Lord Jim Knight. The Bishop of Derby outlined how a national programme would provide an opportunity to measure the effectiveness of policies. 

Lord Gus O’Donnell gave an impassioned speech, discussing the possible benefits that would span across government departments and objectives, and at low cost – delivering the survey is estimated to make up just 0.02% of the Department for Education’s budget. 

Wellbeing measurement is a glaring gap in the Bill, Lord O’Donnell explained. “That’s the Doughnut!” He says. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is “a brilliant Bill, wonderful on the outside, but with a very large hole in the middle—which is that there is no national testing, so we will not know what works.”

Minister Jacqui Smith made a commitment on the floor to meet with Peers to discuss this issue further. “I hear those noble Lords who talked about wellbeing measurement. The Government supports schools measuring wellbeing—many already do. We are looking at how to support schools to measure components of thriving, such as wellbeing, most effectively to support attendance, attainment and other national priorities with our opportunity mission. I would be very happy to talk further to noble Lords who are interested in that.”

Alongside our partners The Children’s Society, Fair Education Alliance, Pro Bono Economics and a coalition of over 50 organisations, we will continue to call for the inclusion of a national wellbeing measurement programme in the Bill. Find out more about the Our Wellbeing, Our Voice campaign and read our briefing documents here: www.ourwellbeingourvoice.org