The government is doing “too little, too slowly” on the issue of mobile phones for children, the chair of the Commons Education Select Committee has warned.
Speaking at the second reading of the Protection of Children (Digital Safety and Data Protection) Bill in the House of Commons, Labour MP Helen Hayes urged the government to “put a framework in law which can help parents, schools and professionals with mobile phone use”.
Her comments today came as the government was criticised over a “watered down” second version of what is more informally known as the Safer Phones Bill, which was first introduced by Labour MP Josh MacAlister in October 2024.
The Private Members’ Bill initially called for the government to consider a statutory ban on mobile phones in schools, should the non-statutory guidance introduced by the Conservative government be found ineffective.
However, education secretary Bridget Phillipson dismissed more recent Conservative calls to introduce a complete ban on phones in schools, saying that the “vast majority of schools” already enforce phone bans.
U-turn on phone ban in schools
Mr MacAlister told MPs in the Commons today that this aspect of the bill had been dropped so that his draft proposed legislation could “secure explicit government backing”.
“It’s been written to achieve change rather than just highlight the issue,” Mr MacAlister, a former teacher, told Parliament.
“That is why the bill before us is narrower than where I started when this campaign began six months ago.”
If the bill is passed, it will instruct UK chief medical officers to publish advice for parents on children’s use of smartphones and social media.
It will also compel ministers to say within a year whether they plan to raise the age at which children can consent to their data being shared without parental permission.
‘Making teachers’ work more difficult’
Kit Malthouse, a Conservative former education secretary, criticised the latest version of the bill as a “hollowed out gesture”, and warned that teachers’ lives will become “immeasurably more difficult” without a complete phone ban.
Earlier this year the Commons Education Select Committee recommended that the government should formally monitor the impact of a non-statutory ban on mobile phones in schools.
However, school leaders criticised the non-statutory guidance as a “non-policy for a non-problem”, considering that many schools already had their own internal phone policies in place.
Teacher Tapp research last year showed that only 1 per cent of schools allowed the use of mobile phones at any time, and just 6 per cent of secondaries allowed it at breaks and lunch.
Ms Hayes, who backs the bill, said she “shares the concerns of many in this House that the government is not acting fast enough in the face of evidence” on child mobile phone use.
She said the current version of the bill will deliver “some positive interventions that will make a difference”, but that the government was “doing too little, too slowly on this issue”.
Call for higher age for digital consent
The Liberal Democrats also raised concerns that the bill had been “watered down” to gain government backing.
The party has tabled an amendment to the bill, which would raise the digital age of consent from 13 to 16. Specifically, it would raise the age for processing personal data in the case of social networking.
However, many school leaders continue to support the bill.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said schools need a “better understanding of the impacts” of mobile phones, and that the government should take “proactive action to safeguard children and young people”.
“The provisions in the proposed bill would be a positive and sensible step forwards,” he added.
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