Mobile phone bans in schools set to become statutory in major government ruling
The government is preparing to legalize mobile phone bans in schools by amending the Welfare of Children and Schools Act in the House of Lords.
A Department for Education (DfE) spokesman said the change would formalize existing guidance on phone restrictions in educational settings.
The spokesman said: “We have consistently made it clear that mobile phones have no place in schools and the majority have already banned them.
“This change makes existing guidance legal, giving legal force to what schools are already doing in practice.
“This builds on steps we have taken to strengthen enforcement, with Ofsted considering schools’ mobile phone policies as part of inspection from this month.
“We will always put children’s interests first, including this bill, which is considered the largest piece of child protection legislation in decades, with critical measures such as legislation to prevent profiteering in children’s social care and a new unique identifier to prevent children from falling out of favour.”
Peers will vote in the House of Lords on Monday evening on the Conservative Party’s amendment to the mobile phone bill.
Education minister Bridget Phillipson has previously written to headteachers in England to emphasize that schools should be phone-free for the entire school day. However, mobile phone referrals to schools were not legal.
Teachers’ union NASUWT has previously said it supports a legal school phone ban.
A government source said: “Repeated attempts by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to scrap some of the most far-reaching child protection laws are deeply disgusting and [sic] The dismal failure of some of the most vulnerable children in our country.
“After over a decade in which the children’s social care and child protection system was left to rot by these parties in power and the horrific cases of child abuse by the likes of Arthur Labinjo Hughes, Star Hobson and Sara Sharif, this government moved swiftly to fix the broken situation but was blocked at every turn by the opposition parties.
“It is an absolute affront to democracy that measures in this legislation, which include direct manifesto commitments such as introducing free breakfast clubs and a limit on branded school uniforms, saving families hundreds of pounds, are being blocked by unelected Conservative and Liberal Democrat colleagues.”
