The Department for Education is set to introduce a statutory mobile phone ban in schools, to give “legal force to what schools are already doing”. Skills minister Jacqui Smith told the Lords last night the government will issue an amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill to put existing guidance on a statutory footing. This will mean the guidance “must be followed unless there is a legally justifiable reason for schools not to do so”, she said. Research by the children’s commissioner, Rachel de Souza, found last year that 90 per cent of secondary schools and 99.8 per cent of primary schools already have policies in place that stop the use of mobile phones during the school day. A DfE spokesperson said the amendment will give “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.” It comes days after early years minister Olivia Bailey told the Commons that government had “already solved the problem of banning phones in schools”. The government is currently consulting on technology and its impact on children, including whether the school phone guidance should be made statutory. ‘Doesn’t change much’ Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary at ASCL school leaders union, said a statutory ban “doesn’t really change much”. “Most schools already have policies in place under which pupils are not permitted to use mobile phones. “The most common approach is to require them to keep devices ‘off and away’ during the school day – with the challenge then being to ensure that these rules are followed. “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.” Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said statutory guidance “will give school leaders the clarity they need to implement a ban, and will remove any ambiguity or differences between how schools approach smartphone policies. “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.” Further details on the amendment have not been published, but are expected when the bill is debated in the Commons on Wednesday.