The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill recently returned to the House of Commons for debate. This mammoth legislation covers everything from social media to school uniform prices and could have serious implications for family finances and children’s safety online.

Given its scope you would expect MPs to receive sufficient time to scrutinise the legislation as well as any amendments proposed by the House of Lords. Unfortunately, this did not happen – not only did the government grant us a fraction of the time needed but they threw out many amendments without scrutiny or whipped their MPs to vote them down.

Most egregious was the rejection of a proposed ban on social media for under-16s. While parties like the Liberal Democrats have outlined comprehensive policies supported by multiple charities and campaigners, the government has dithered.

This month they finally launched a consultation on a potential social media ban for under-16s. I welcomed this then, but as time has passed, I have become increasingly concerned that this consultation is yet another delay to concrete action, and the consultation has been criticised as being too complicated for many to engage with.

Parents, children, and campaigners are crying out for more support, but the government is not listening. It is little wonder some are concerned about the undue influence of social media giants on their thinking.

Of course, it is important to get any measures right, but the lack of impetus should trouble us all. There are also measures the government could take right now to protect children, such as banning smartphones from schools. But instead of doing this, they rejected an amendment which would make such a ban statutory.

This is the latest in a long line of mixed messaging on the issue. In the past months, the government has dismissed a statutory ban as a gimmick and unnecessary, before changing course and finally acknowledging the scale of the problem. Their solution? Making school inspections even more stressful by empowering Ofsted to examine phone policies. This is hardly the support teachers need.

Meanwhile, 40% of children are being shown explicit content during the school day. Videos of extreme violence or misogynistic pornography abound behind the school gates. Children’s cognitive development is being impaired by the instant gratification and avoidance provided by smartphones. This is an emergency and should be treated as such.

There are many other amendments I could discuss, such as the government rejecting our proposed uniform price cap. But I want to end by discussing some of the most vulnerable people in our society: adopted children.

Last April, while parliament was in recess, the government snuck out devastating cuts to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), which helped nearly 20,000 adopted children in 2024 with services like therapy.

For a government that has a remarkable talent for making the wrong decisions, this was surely among their worst. Instead of reversing course, the government rejected a Liberal Democrat amendment to review these changes.

It was a deeply disappointing debate in which the government revealed its priorities remain in all the wrong places. Nevertheless, I will continue pushing to focus their mind on the issues that matter most to you.