UK Introduces Bill to Bolster Child Safeguards After Sara Sharif Case

The proposed legislation seeks to regulate homeschooling and strengthen protections for vulnerable children, following the murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif by her family.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill aims to prevent parents from homeschooling children under child protection investigations or plans, ensuring greater oversight for at-risk children.
Sara Sharif's murder highlighted the dangers of unsupervised homeschooling, with her father and stepmother using it to conceal abuse that led to her death.
The Bill includes measures like a not-in-school register and unique identifier numbers for children to improve tracking and prevent them from falling through systemic gaps.
Campaigners and the Children’s Commissioner have called for the Bill to go further, including banning the legal defense of 'reasonable chastisement' for corporal punishment in England.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson described the legislation as a 'seminal moment for child protection,' while critics argue that funding for early intervention and family support remains insufficient.