Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Written evidence submitted by Michelle Clement-Evans, Child Employment and Entertainment Manager for Nottinghamshire County Council, member of the National Network for Child Employment and Entertainment (NNCEE) with the responsibility for Child Employment (CWSB208)

Written Evidence to Children Wellbeing and School Bill Select Committee

Introduction

I have worked in child employment for over 25 years, exposure and knowledge on child employment and the legislation I feel it is not fit for purpose. The legislation does not meet the needs; of employers, the current trends in employment and flexibility required for young people whilst still in compulsory school.

1.Summary

The changes in child employment legislation are welcomed however I do not feel just these changes alone will address the issued faced, will bring about fairness or opportunities for our young people or help to meet the requirements in the employment market.

Nationally we have seen a decline in work permits issued over the years. However, this does not mean that there are fewer young people working, on the contrary we believe there is an increase. Reasons for the decline include i) There is a lack of awareness of the legislation with; employers, young people, parents /carers, schools and even with local authority departments. In 2024 Nottingham County Council issued around 400 permits compared to 10 years ago when we issued around 1200 permits. ii) The legislation is outdated and places too many restrictions on the jobs young people do and creates barriers rather than opportunities.

2. Young Workers Views

In the past I have liaised with the Youth Council and Youth Parliament to obtain their views on child employment. Neither were aware of the legislation. Their feedback was, if new legislation were to be introduced, they would like to see flexibility in the hours that they can work, know where they can go for help or support and a national minimum wage.

3. Hours

We support the suggested 8pm finish and Sunday hours being the same as Saturday. Although an improvement here would be an opportunity to create additional fairness and flexibility that is much needed. Employers find the 2 hours after school difficult to work around especially in areas such as hospitality, it just is not worth it to them it does not help them to cover those busy times for example in a restaurant dining time spreads across 6-9pm, often the shift patterns tend to be 4-hour blocks. To better suit the employer and child the proposal would be to introduce possibly a 2.5- 4-hour shift during the school week rather than several 2-hour shifts. This can still be capped at the maximum hours per week (12 hours for 13-14 years and 15 hours for 15-16 years). This could also open opportunities to work in different industries such as theatres and cinemas. This 8pm extension would still not meet the issues within the sporting industry it would not help those young people that may be or want to be ball assistants for the football clubs where it is becoming more frequent for late night matches to be played after 7:30pm. Or those ball boys and girls that work at Wimbledon were matches are frequently played after 8pm.

3.Safeguarding

It is mentioned in the Bill that there will be greater safeguarding in place but how will this be implemented? There are currently no requirements to conduct any safeguarding checks on employers. Introducing DBS checks for employers would also not solve the issue and could be problematic especially for larger companies where the young person may be working alongside many different people. In Nottinghamshire we have adopted a scheme originally set up in Dudley whereby an employer has to sign up to a code of conduct, agreeing to certain conditions once every three years. If they do not sign up to this then we will not issue a work permit. When issuing the code of conduct, employers are given details of who they can contact should they be concerned about a child’s safety or wellbeing. It is important that site inspections are conducted and that employers collaborate with their local authorities ensure the young people are safe. We would also recommend working with other organisations such as Trading Standards to share information and carry out site visits together to keep young people safe.

4. Byelaws

We welcome national regulations as byelaws take too long to make amendments and the process to do so it very lengthy. In the Nottinghamshire County Council byelaws, it currently states "young people are prohibited to work in a public house or a restaurant in a public house". This is different to our neighbouring authorities, which puts Nottinghamshire young people at a disadvantage. There is also a number of outdated legislations, such as ‘The Employment of Women, Young People and Children’s 1920’ Act that underpins and has an impact on the type of jobs young people can do. For example, a child can not work in any business that is classed as an "industrial undertaking". This would prohibit them working in an office of a manufacturing business which may be located away from the shop floor.

There are also many examples where a young person has carried out a work experience placement, in a garage and then been offered a Saturday job but due to the 1920 Act it would mean they could not take up this opportunity.

5.Recommendations

To liaise with Local Authorities, employers and young people on current issues and barriers in the world of child employment.

Develop some national guidance to support the legislation that is for employers, parents/carers, young people and local authorities Just last year I with another colleague produced a National Guidance Booklet for child employment covering all areas of employment, investigations and taking legal action which, I feel is a good foundation to build on.

Promote and raise awareness on the new legislation on websites or holding roadshows up and down the country.

Clarity on what is paid sport where a child would require a performance licence (however I am not aware of any LA that has issued a sports licence) and what is a job in sport, some football academies claim the ball assistant’s role is a part of their academy training program and other clubs pay a wage to these young people which creates inconsistency. A recommendation would be to introduce a sporting permit like the Body of Persons Approval (BOPA) in the performance regulations.

Better information in place for employers so that if they employ anyone 16 and under, they know where to go to get a work permit and that they understand that a young person who is 16, they may still be at school.

I would welcome the opportunity to come and speak with the committee further on these matters, or to be a part of a working group to look at new legislation and guidance.

5 February 2025