Baroness Jacqui Smith Moves To Make Phone Bans Statutory In England Schools

Britain’s government is moving to make phone bans in schools statutory in England, using an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

“The government has said it will introduce a legal ban on smartphones in schools in England”

BBC

Education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith told the House of Lords that the government would table an amendment “creating a clear legal requirement for schools” on smartphones.

BBC

The Department for Education said the change would give “legal force to what schools are already doing in practice,” and framed it as consistent with existing guidance that schools should be phone-free for the entire day.

The BBC reported that the government’s plan would put the guidance on a statutory footing, while also noting that the details of the amendment have not yet been published.

The Independent and Irish Independent both described the same mechanism: the DfE would amend the bill so that existing guidance on mobile phone bans becomes statutory.

In the House of Lords, peers had already voted through a Conservative amendment to ban pupils from having smartphones during the school day, with The Independent reporting a vote of “276 to 169, majority 107.”

Sky News likewise said the House of Lords voted by a majority of 107 to ban phones during the school day, and described the Commons as expected to vote on the amendment on Wednesday.

The government’s stated rationale was that “mobile phones have no place in schools,” and that “the majority already prohibit them,” with the DfE spokesperson repeating that the amendment “builds on the steps we’ve already taken to strengthen enforcement.”

The government’s argument for statutory change is tied to enforcement and inspection, with Ofsted set to monitor schools’ mobile phone policies as part of inspections.

The BBC said the government would put guidance on a statutory footing and that it “argues that this is different from what the Conservatives have been advocating, which is an outright legal ban,” while also saying the government removed phones from guidance as an option for schools by taking “not seen, not heard” out of the guidance.

GB News

The BBC reported that some schools have chosen to use lockers or magnetically sealed pouches for phones, and that the amendment’s details were not yet published.

The Guardian said ministers had “finally capitulated,” describing the statutory move as “a pragmatic measure” to get the bill through, while quoting Jacqui Smith’s statement that the government would place existing guidance “on the face of the bill, creating a clear legal requirement for schools.”

Multiple outlets tied the enforcement mechanism to Ofsted: the BBC said schools’ mobile phone policies will be monitored as part of Ofsted inspections from April, while the Independent and Irish Independent said Ofsted would consider schools’ mobile phone policies as part of inspection from this month.

The DfE spokesperson quoted in The Independent emphasized that the amendment “builds on the steps we’ve already taken to strengthen enforcement,” and that it would make existing guidance statutory.

The Guardian added that research from the children’s commissioner for England found “99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools already had policies in place that limited or restricted the use of mobile phones during the school day,” which the government used to argue there was no need for a legal requirement until it changed course.

The headteachers’ union NAHT and the teaching union NASUWT both backed the statutory approach, with NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman saying “Statutory guidance will give school leaders the clarity they need to implement a ban, and will remove any ambiguity or differences between how schools approach smartphone policies.”

The policy has become a point of contention between Labour ministers and Conservative figures, with outlets quoting both sides’ characterizations of the change.

“Phones to be banned in England's schools under proposed law change Phone bans in England's schools will be enforced by law in a new advisory from the Department of Education”

LBC

The BBC said the government argued its approach was different from what Conservatives had advocated, describing the Conservatives’ position as an outright legal ban, while Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott called the amendment “fantastic news for headteachers, parents and pupils across the country.”

Trott’s quoted criticism in the BBC included that “For over a year, Labour dismissed this as an unnecessary gimmick,” and she added that “just last week the education minister claimed the problem had already been solved.”

The Independent and Sky News both carried Trott’s framing, with Sky News quoting her saying “I am delighted we have forced Labour to see sense and U-turn,” and calling it “fantastic news for headteachers, parents and pupils across the country.”

The Guardian, by contrast, described the government’s shift as ministers “finally capitulated,” and said they described it as “a pragmatic measure” to get the bill through.

In the Lords, the proposal that had been voted through was linked to Conservative shadow education minister Baroness Barran, and The Independent reported that her proposal included “a potential carve-out for sixth formers, medical devices and some boarding school settings.”

Sky News similarly said Barran’s proposal includes a potential exception for sixth-formers, medical devices and some boarding school settings, and described the Commons vote as expected on Wednesday.

The government’s own spokesperson and ministerial statements emphasized that the amendment would make existing guidance statutory and that it would “give legal force to what schools are already doing in practice,” with the DfE spokesperson quoted in The Independent and The Guardian repeating that “mobile phones have no place in schools.”

While political parties argued over who initiated the change, education unions and school leaders focused on what statutory status would mean in practice, including funding for storage and clarity for enforcement.

The BBC quoted the head of the Association of School and College Leaders, Pepe Di’Iasio, saying the legal backing “doesn’t really change very much” because most schools already enforce their own bans, and he argued that “What would really be helpful is for the government to make funding available to schools for the safe and secure storage of mobile phones, such as storage lockers or locked pouches.”

Radio France

The Independent and Guardian echoed that same point, with The Independent quoting Di’Iasio that a statutory ban “doesn’t really change that much” and repeating his request for funding for “storage lockers or locked pouches.”

NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman was also quoted across outlets, including The Independent and Sky News, saying “Statutory guidance will give school leaders the clarity they need to implement a ban, and will remove any ambiguity or differences between how schools approach smartphone policies.”

The Guardian described the government’s guidance as non-statutory previously, and it said the education secretary Bridget Phillipson had written to headteachers to stress schools should be phone-free throughout the entire school day.

The Guardian also reported that the children’s commissioner research found “99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools” already had policies limiting or restricting use, which helped explain why Di’Iasio said statutory guidance might not change day-to-day enforcement.

The Independent and Irish Independent both described the carve-out proposal associated with Baroness Barran, including “a potential carve-out for sixth formers, medical devices and some boarding school settings,” and said it faced further scrutiny in the Commons.

The BBC added that some schools have chosen to use lockers or magnetically sealed pouches for phones, reinforcing that implementation could vary even if the legal requirement is uniform.

Beyond the school-day phone ban, the reporting connects the policy debate to wider concerns about children’s social media use and online harm, including government consultations and technology-company engagement.

“Phone bans in England's schools are set to be enforced by law, under new plans announced by the government”

Richmond & Twickenham Times

The BBC said because education is devolved, the approach to phones in schools varies across the UK, noting that the Scottish government brought in guidance allowing headteachers to implement phone bans in schools in 2024, Wales has no national ban but heads can restrict devices, and Northern Ireland ended a phone-free pilot scheme in nine schools with a report due in June.

Richmond & Twickenham Times

LBC and GB News both linked the bill to ministers’ flexible power to curb children’s social media use with curfews, scrolling limits and restrictions on location sharing, and LBC quoted Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying that “Things can’t go on like this, they must change because right now social media is putting our children at risk.”

LBC also reported that Starmer met with executives from technology companies including Meta, Snap, Google, TikTok and X at Downing Street, and GB News carried the same “Things must change” quote.

The Guardian and Independent framed the statutory phone ban as part of a wider package of child protection legislation, with The Guardian describing the bill as including proposals for a compulsory register for children who are not in school, a crackdown on profiteering in children’s social care, and a “single unique identifier.”

The Independent and BBC also referenced the bill’s scale, with the DfE saying it was “widely recognised as the biggest piece of child safeguarding legislation in decades,” and with the BBC quoting that the government would always “put children’s interests first.”

Outside the parliamentary debate, TF1 described school and parent experiments in England, including The Stanway School in Colchester volunteering for “21 days without smartphones at all, neither at school nor at home,” and it quoted John Player saying, “The results of this experiment were absolutely striking: 20% of the students' anxiety and depression symptoms disappeared after just three weeks.”

TF1 also described a Fulham Boys School requiring students to use old-model phones that only allow making calls and sending texts, and Radio France reported that St Albans aimed to become “the first British city without smartphones for children under 14,” with Cunningham Hill School’s survey showing “45 out of 60 students already owned a smartphone — 75%” in December 2023 and “only 7 — 12%” a year later.