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MPs back our call for a national wellbeing measurement programme to listen to young people across England
Since the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was introduced to Parliament in December, the #BeeWell team has been working with the ‘Our Wellbeing, Our Voice’ coalition to persuade MPs and Ministers to introduce national young people’s wellbeing measurement as part of the Bill.
“How do you have a children’s wellbeing bill without any attempt to measure their wellbeing across the country? There is a lot to welcome in the Bill but this gap is a fundamental flaw” – Lord Gus O’Donnell, Former Cabinet Secretary
Along with The Children’s Society, Fair Education Alliance and Pro Bono Economics, and a coalition of more than 50 other organisations, #BeeWell is calling for a national wellbeing measurement programme to provide the necessary data for understanding why 1 in 4 children in the UK report having low wellbeing (PISA, 2022) and driving action to reverse the UK’s wellbeing crisis.
To make this happen, the ‘Our Wellbeing, Our Voice’ coalition has engaged with the Bill at each stage as it passed through the House of Commons.
→ Second Reading
The coalition encouraged MPs to raise wellbeing measurement in front of the Secretary of State for Education. We are grateful to Victoria Collins MP for Harpenden and Berkhamsted for asking “So, would the Secretary of State consider a national wellbeing measurement to help look at those and really look at how we can improve the wellbeing of our children?”
You can read more about this intervention and the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson’s response in Children & Young People Now.
→ Oral evidence given to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill committee
Several high-profile figures called for wellbeing measurement while presenting evidence to the Bill committee, a group of MPs scrutinising the Bill line-by-line. Mark Russell, CEO of The Children’s Society emphasised how data would allow services to better meet the needs of children and young people. Anne Longfield CBE, Executive Chair of Centre for Young Lives and Dr Carol Homden CBE, CEO of Coram also made the case for wellbeing measurement to committee members.
To further support the discussion, the coalition submitted written evidence, outlining how data would strengthen the measures in the Bill.
→ Committee Stage
Munira Wilson MP for Twickenham, tabled an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill calling for national children and young people’s wellbeing measurement, supported by the ‘Our Wellbeing, Our Voice’ coalition. The amendment was sponsored by MPs Ian Sollom, Freddie Van Mierlo, Danny Chambers, Liz Jarvis, Gideon Amos OBE, Jess Brown-Fuller and Ellie Chowns.
The Bill committee then debated the amendment, with Munira Wilson arguing that a national wellbeing measurement programme “would allow regular tracking of national progress, support detailed service planning within local communities, enable targeted support for groups of young people struggling the most, help school leaders to understand how they are performing and support the development of new evidence on what works for improving children’s wellbeing.”
Although the amendment wasn’t passed, we were pleased to hear Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Early Education) Stephen Morgan MP respond by acknowledging the value of understanding wellbeing.
→ Report Stage
During the Report Stage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, Munira Wilson re-laid an amendment calling for national children and young people’s wellbeing measurement. The MP advocated for wellbeing measurement in the House of Commons, describing how the current system of fragmented data across services is preventing us from understanding young people’s challenges and developing effective solutions.
During the debate, Sarah Smith MP also championed the potential for measuring wellbeing nationally. The MP for Hyndburn outlined how wellbeing measurement would help to reverse low levels of life satisfaction among children and young people by embedding vital data into national and local policymaking and commissioning.
Despite not being selected for a vote, momentum behind the campaign is ever growing. Mark Russell, CEO of The Children’s Society, Lord Gus O’Donnell and James Robertson, National Director of #BeeWell, met with Minister Stephen Morgan to discuss the potential of a national wellbeing measurement programme.
→ Looking forward
The Bill will soon be making its way to the House of Lords, where Peers will have the opportunity to scrutinise the Bill and lay further amendments.
#BeeWell and the rest of the ‘Our Wellbeing, Our Voice’ coalition is looking forward to continuing working with Ministers, MPs and Peers to make the case for measurement and we anticipate re-laying the amendment calling for a national children and young people’s wellbeing measurement programme for England.
Join the ‘Our Wellbeing, Our Voice’ campaign here: www.ourwellbeingourvoice.org
