What is the CWS Bill?

This extensive, complex and highly controversial piece of legislation was devised and drafted by Westminster’s Department for Education and laid before Parliament at Westminster as an England-only Bill on 17th December 2024. 

Just as the Bill was about to leave the House of Commons, after completion of the report and committee stages there, amendments were laid for key clauses to apply to Wales too, pending Senedd assent. 

These clauses are mainly the Children Not in School (CNIS) section. 

The Senedd are to vote very shortly on whether or not to give assent to these applying to the children of Wales. 

Considerable concerns have been raised by many diverse sources, on both the content and impact of the measures in the Bill,  and on the processes to date, be these at Westminster or in Wales. 

Concerns have also been raised at the lack of engagement with the community, and with the lack of balanced information available to Senedd Members and Welsh Members of Parliament to help inform and evaluate the proposals. 

We trust our elected representatives will only vote on something they have a full understanding of, having listened to the voices of those with lived experience, that they will engage and appreciate the evidence, and be willing to evaluate and critique the claims of the Bill. 

We seek to present the information that would be necessary for any elected representative considering voting on these measures to appreciate in order to ensure their vote is informed and in the interests of the children of Wales.

Here is a link to the CWS Bill as it currently stands (PDF)