The schools bill, introduced this year with a promise to “raise education standards” across England, is being scrapped, the government has finally confirmed, after months of opposition and uncertainty.
The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, told MPs on the education select committee that the flagship legislation “will not progress” in the third session of parliament, adding that ministers remained committed to the objectives of the bill.
In her first appearance as education secretary before the Commons committee, Keegan said the government would continue to prioritise certain elements of the bill, including a proposed register for children who were not in school.
The bill, introduced by one of Keegan’s predecessors, Nadhim Zahawi, was due for its third reading in the Lords but had already been gutted after running into fierce opposition over clauses that critics claimed would have given ministers sweeping and unprecedented powers over how academies operate.
