‘What gets measured, matters’ – a wellbeing policy mantra

What gets measured, matters. These four words have been the driving mantra behind the Our Wellbeing, Our Voice coalition campaign since its inception over a year ago.

The campaign, which we support through our #BeeWell partnership, was born out of a singular mission - to convince the government (or the Department for Education more specifically) that in order to change the tide of children and young people’s wellbeing we need to start formally measuring it.

Listening to what young people tell us about their wellbeing means we can shed light on why problems develop. With this insight we can then design the best approaches to prevent problems taking root, and/or intervene sooner, giving every child the opportunity to thrive. For Anna Freud, a national commitment to measure children’s wellbeing, with young voices at the heart of decision-making, aligns to our core mission to build a future where every young person receives the right support at the right time.

With this as our focus, as #BeeWell, we joined forces with our partners Pro Bono Economics, The Fair Education Alliance and The Children’s Society to form this new coalition. Now, more than 60 other organisations support the aims and objectives of the campaign including the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and the Local Governance Association, two important allies.

The campaign's aims

In advocating for a national wellbeing measurement programme, the campaign has been calling for a youth-centred, confidential, and regularly delivered approach, grounded in local ownership while ensuring national coverage.

As the campaign began, our aim was to influence government legislation via the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – the most relevant government policy passing through parliament that could help us achieve our objectives. We have engaged with the Bill at each stage as it passed through the House of Commons and the House of Lords for over a year now.

Calls for a wellbeing measure were made throughout the Bill’s journey

From when the Bill was announced in December 2024, we have consistently been seeking the inclusion of a wellbeing measurement programme.

At Second Reading in the House of Commons, Victoria Collins MP raised the issue directly with the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson. This prompted a ministerial response you can read in Children & Young People Now.

During the Bill’s Committee Stage, coalition partners and other high-profile allies emphasised how data would allow services to better meet the needs of young people. Their contributions, reinforced by our written evidence further made the case that a wellbeing measurement would strengthen the measures in the Bill.

Then came the Lib Dems MP, Munira Wilson, who tabled amendments calling for a national wellbeing measurement programme, with support from our coalition and cross-party MPs.

Although these amendments were not passed, ministers began to acknowledge the importance of understanding children’s wellbeing. You can read the full House of Commons journey in the longer write-up from #BeeWell.

Momentum continued in the House of Lords

As the Bill moved to scrutiny in the House of Lords there was strong cross-party support which made us hopeful. During the Bill’s debate in May 2025, 10 peers explicitly mentioned the campaign, making it the single most mentioned item that wasn't already included in the Bill as drafted.

Our strongest parliamentary ally has undoubtedly been Lord Gus O’Donnell, former Cabinet Secretary, who has championed our aims and formally tabled our proposed amendment to the Bill:

“How do you have a children’s wellbeing bill without any attempt to measure their wellbeing across the country? There is a lot to welcome in the Bill but this gap is a fundamental flaw,” he said.

With this support from Lord O’Donnell and other key parliamentary figures, the case for national wellbeing measurement for children and young people gained increasing prominence as the Bill progressed.

At the final Committee stage debate in the House of Lords in September 2025, Lord Gus O’Donnell, our amendment champion, shared another key message: we cannot improve what we do not measure. He argued that, if done properly, wellbeing measurement could be the most important aspect of the Bill.

During that debate fourteen other peers referenced our proposal, including experts in education policy, economics, and wellbeing.

As the debate closed, the sponsoring peer, Baroness Smith of Malvern, emphasised the government’s commitment “to supporting all children and young people to achieve and thrive” adding that “to help us do this, we need to understand how our children and young people are feeling.”

Late night debates concluded our amendment’s journey, but…

In the early hours of 4 February 26, while most of us were fast asleep, ‘our’ Amendment 233 - calling for national wellbeing measurement - was debated at the House of Lords Report Stage with cross-party support but ultimately opposed by the government and withdrawn.

This moment fell almost a year after we began campaigning, and with many highs and lows along the way, we were of course disappointed that it fell at the final hurdle. But we were heartened to see continuing strong cross-party support for the introduction of a national wellbeing measurement programme, even at such a late hour, with five peers speaking in favour of our proposal during the nocturnal debate.

Alternative routes to influence for success

Part of any good campaign is the ability to be agile and make the most of opportunities to reach your ultimate change objectives, even if it isn’t part of your original plan. And the Our Wellbeing, Our Voice coalition has done just that.

While we didn’t end our engagement with the Bill with any tangible new legislation, it doesn’t mean that we haven’t had influence and made real progress for and with children and young people. In fact, given the relative short timeframe to be lobbying on this issue we are delighted with the impact this has and is having on the Department for Education’s policy making.

Our influencing’s real breakthroughs:

• Baroness Smith of Malvern (who led the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill in the House of Lords) has committed to a standard set of measures within a new pupil engagement framework/modular schools survey, something that wasn’t on the table prior to our campaign and direct lobbying.

• The pupil engagement framework, which will include elements on wellbeing, has been formally included in the government’s latest Schools White Paper.

• We are now working closely with the Department for Education and our partners as we believe that though promising, the proposals can go further, both in capturing wellbeing accurately and ensuring data leads to meaningful action. They are now consulting with experts (like us via the Our Wellbeing, Our Voice coalition) to create the guidance for school leaders.

• The Department for Education also recognised on the back of our influencing work that young people need to have their say. Anna Freud young champions, as well as young people from #BeeWell and the Fair Education Alliance called for this in letters to the Secretary of State in December and have subsequently discussed this with Department for Education's Policy Team directly.

As our young champion Grace said at the time:

"It is crucial to the success of this Bill that young people are consulted. I have been a name on a three-month waitlist, I have had weeks out of lessons, I have had times where I was told I would not have a future and I have fought to make sure the system changes for six years. I am just one expert by experience, but there are thousands of young people like me who have gone through the system too, they need a chance to have their say too.”

• The government are now willing to explore how to collate data centrally from the school surveys to inform national policy, something we have also been lobbying for.

• As #BeeWell colleagues identified, “The importance of young people’s wellbeing and the positive impact that a national wellbeing measurement could have was put firmly into the national conversation. Achieving coverage in Schools Week, CYP Now, and multiple articles in the Times, showcasing the support of Members of the House of Lords, including former Education Secretary Lord Blunkett and former Cabinet Secretary Lord O’Donnell.

• We have amplified youth voices, built cross-sector support, and engaged policymakers across parties.

What’s next

While we are now busy planning for the next phase of the campaign we will continue to work behind the scenes to ensure the Department for Education guidance to schools meets expected objectives.

And in doing this, with our four-word mantra still our driving force, we will continue to find ways to remind the government and others about why measuring wellbeing matters. Because, as Anna Freud Champion Emily, put it so well:

“… behind every statistic is a real young person. Whether or not their difficulties are recognised early can drastically alter the course of their life.

"A national wellbeing data collection system would help us spot early signs of distress, provide timely support, reduce inequality in access to help, and shift our national approach to preventing a crisis.”

• Learn more about the Our Wellbeing Our Voice coalition, and our #BeeWell programme.

• Read our in-depth views on the new schools white paper.