Paul Swaddle, leader of the Conservative Group, Westminster City Council

THANKS to the Netflix series Adolescence, discussion about the issues faced by our children and young people has been all over the media over the last couple of weeks.

Many of us have already realised that this generation are facing very real pressures from social media and their peers through their phones and digital devices, even as the prime minister Sir Keir Starmer suggested recently that the series had alerted him to the problems.

Although my children are beyond school age, my wife is a teacher and so we regularly discuss what it is like to be at school today.

Our Westminster Conservatives’ Young People team, led by Councillor Tim Barnes, are also highly experienced in the issues of this critical area.

That’s why we are surprised that Westminster Labour have not looked to address the concerns of parents and carers about mobile phone use in schools.

Several London boroughs have introduced bans and other measures in recent months but there’s been silence on this issue here.

The Conservative party has pushed for legislation and votes in parliament but these have not been supported by the Labour government.

But we are listening.

Last week Councillor Karen Scarborough raised concerns with primary school heads and listened to what they had to say.

We have brought these thoughts together and will be pushing for action from the current city council and pressing for changes that support teachers, parents, carers, and our young people.

The time has come to help protect our youngest residents.

We are proposing a ban on smartphones in primary schools.

In practice many of our schools do this already but we want to help make it easier for those schools that have faced opposition to do what they think is needed.

Particular care needs to be taken for those with special educational needs and disabilities, too.

We also want to see better support for secondaries and academies that want to develop their own policies and we will back every school to put in place the measures they think are needed.

Parents and carers also need help to find out what’s the best action to take and how to manage their children’s phones, inside and outside of school.

It can be a struggle to keep up with the technology and we will look to help with information on how to best manage their children’s phones and access.

There are several effective charities and initiatives that work across the United Kingdom which we will bring to Westminster and make available to parents and carers.

In practice, much of this is incremental to what is happening in schools already.

But we are determined to provide solutions and support to help fill in the gaps across our city and provide clear direction where the current Labour leadership have been utterly silent.

Sir Keir thinks our plan to ban phones in schools is “completely unnecessary”.

We know those who take care of children are more concerned.

If you would like to express your views on this issue or support our plans visit: westminsterconservatives.com/BanSmartPhones