Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 41B

**What happened:** On 15 April 2026, MPs voted on whether to reject Lords Amendment 41B to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, a change that had been made by the House of Lords to alter the government's original version of the legislation. The government's motion to disagree with the Lords passed by 254 votes to 144, meaning the Commons restored its earlier position and sent the bill back to the upper chamber. **Why it matters:** The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill covers a broad range of policy relating to children's welfare and the school system in England. By voting to reject Lords Amendment 41B, the government succeeded in removing a modification the Lords had inserted into the bill, restoring the Commons' preferred version of that particular clause. The practical effect depends on the specific content of the amendment, but the outcome means the policy direction the government sought to embed in this area of children's and schools legislation will proceed without the Lords' change. **The politics:** The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 254 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted supported the government's position, while 83 Conservatives, 52 Liberal Democrats, 4 Greens, and several smaller-party and independent MPs voted to retain the Lords' amendment. There were no Labour rebels. This division was one of several held on the same day relating to Lords amendments to the same bill, with similarly consistent government majorities across each vote, reflecting a sustained effort by the government to reassert the Commons' position across multiple disputed clauses.