Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts

Wednesday 28th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hampton (CB)]

I am indeed a schoolteacher. Every day in Hackney I see the effects of poverty. We still have 55% free school meals in our school. Schoolteachers are very used to targets. Every pupil has target grades and if they do not hit their target grades, we have to explain why. It really does focus the mind. If we can solve child poverty, the entire Bill will be so much more powerful. The best way to solve poverty is with targets, so I beg the Government to accept the amendment.

[Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)]

My Lords, I will speak briefly to support the amendment in principle. I wonder whether we could get one or two simple targets to measure as indicators of potential poverty. Yesterday, a new report came out called, It’s Like Torture: Life in Temporary Accommodation for Neurodivergent Children and their Families. I believe that temporary accommodation for children is one of the biggest indicators of a lack of well-being, and it is linked to poverty. During Covid, we got almost every rough sleeper off the streets. It is time that we set a target to get every child in temporary accommodation into secure long-term accommodation. I urge the Government to consider that in relation to children’s well-being.

[Lord Crisp (CB)]

My Lords, it gives me great pleasure to follow so many powerful speeches and support my noble friend Lord Bird’s amendment. As a former chief executive of the English NHS, I know a thing or two about targets. There are some awful targets and some good ones. I am delighted that the noble Lord, Lord Barber, is in his place, as the then Government’s “delivery tsar”, or whatever the right title was in those days.