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The government is seeking to make a phone “ban” in schools a legal requirement, the Department for Education has said.

The change would place non-statutory guidance saying that schools should be “mobile phone-free environments by default” on a statutory footing.

It would be introduced via an amendment to the , education minister Baroness Smith said in the House of Lords today.

The government had previously dismissed such a move, with education minister Olivia Bailey last week telling MPs that the government had “already solved” the issue of phones in schools.

She said the government would only back a legal ban on phones in schools if a consultation, which is currently ongoing, found that it would be the “silver bullet that will solve the problem”.

Statutory ‘ban’ on phones in schools

However, Baroness Smith today told the House of Lords: “We recognise the strength of feeling on this issue, both in this House and beyond.

“Notwithstanding the fact that we think the guidance we already have in place provides headteachers and schools with a range of approaches to be able to deliver the objective that we all share, we are committing to tabling an amendment in lieu, which will place the existing guidance on a statutory footing on the face of the bill, creating a clear legal requirement for schools.”

The minister said giving the guidance a statutory basis would send an “important message” for headteachers “to be able to say, ‘Look, this guidance and what it expects from schools is statutory’”.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We have been consistently clear that mobile phones have no place in schools, and the majority already prohibit them.

“This amendment makes existing guidance statutory, giving legal force to what schools are already doing in practice.

“It builds on the steps we’ve already taken to strengthen enforcement, with Ofsted considering schools’ mobile phone policies as part of inspection from this month.”

However, Baroness Barran, previously academies minister in the Conservative government, told the Lords that putting “flawed guidance” on a statutory footing would “achieve nothing”.

The guidance allows students to store phones in lockers, or hand phones in to staff at the start of the school day.

The Conservative shadow education minister told the Lords: “The current guidance that the government has published, which it now proposes to put on a statutory footing, still allows schools to have a so-called ‘not seen, not heard’ policy.”

This evening, peers voted through a Conservative amendment to the bill on mobile phones. They voted by 276 to 169 - a majority of 107 - to ban pupils from having smartphones during the school day.

Responding to the government’s announcement, Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said making the guidance statutory “doesn’t really change very much” because most schools already have policies preventing students from using phones in school.

“What would really be helpful is for the government to make funding available to schools for the safe and secure storage of mobile phones, such as storage lockers or locked pouches,” he said.

Mr Di’Iasio also called for “much tougher” action to tackle the harm caused by social media and pupils’ “excessive” use of phones outside of school.

In contrast, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, welcomed the announcement, saying that making the “ban” statutory will give school leaders “the clarity they need” to implement it.

Mr Whiteman said: “Schools will only then need to decide how to implement and enforce a ban across their school community, and the government must provide any support they require to do so effectively.

“Some schools will need time to communicate with parents and pupils on implementation of a complete ban where this is not already in place.”

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