The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill makes welcome progress in a number of areas, particularly around children’s safeguarding and social care measures. However there is much more the Government could have done to support children and young people that has not been included in the Bill.

Liberal Democrats have consistently called on the Government to expand free school meals to all children living in poverty, and make sure they have access automatically, without their parents having to apply.

While we welcome measures to improve coordination and collaboration between local authorities and academies, we remain concerned about the ability for the Schools Adjudicator to impose changes to pupil admission numbers (PAN) on schools - potentially reducing the ability of successful schools to expand. We will scrutinise the impact of these changes and collaborate with local authority colleagues to ensure the best outcomes for children, and a diversity of school choice for parents.

As my colleague MP Max Wilkinson observed recently, the suggestion that 13 year olds may need a digital ID is clear sign of mission creep. I agree that we need to ensure that data on children is gathered and distributed responsibly.

The Bill has now progressed to the House of Lords, where Liberal Democrat peers continue to hold the Government to account on these changes