The Childhood Lottery

Every day in England, on average, about 1,600 children are born. After a short time, something defining happens to those children. They leave hospital and travel home. This will be the most important journey of their lives. Where that journey ends, in what postcode, will define who they will become, because of what they experience […]

This report comes at a particular time in our national discussion around education. It is written withthis moment in mind. This discussion focuses on the rising numbers of young people who are not in education, employment,or training (NEET), with proposals to fix this problem suggesting measures that reverberate all the waydown the age range and […]

The devastating murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, and the suffering faced by all the girls who survived the attack in Southport in 2024, will never leave me. I think about the victims, their loved ones, a town coming to terms with the trauma. But I also think about […]

Updated August 2026 | Originally published October 2024 As Children’s Commissioner, I have had the privilege to hear from many brilliant and inspiring care experienced young people about their lives now and hopes for the future. Care experienced young people are rightly ambitious for their futures and have told me what support they need to […]

My first act as Children’s Commissioner was to listen to children. My 2021 survey of over half a million young people, The Big Ask, found that children of all backgrounds and abilities, right across the country, were happy, optimistic, and determined. But it was undeniable that some children – particularly many disabled children – face […]

As I enter my final year as Children’s Commissioner, one thing is clear: before we make decisions that affect young people, we need to listen to young people. Children’s mental health is no exception. I am in no doubt that we are facing a crisis in young people’s mental health. The number of children with a referral […]

Few issues have defined my tenure as Children’s Commissioner so sharply as the strip searching of children by police. As a former teacher and headteacher of 30 years, I thought I was hardened to the vast spectrum of failures in children’s rights, but the case of Child Q in Hackney five years ago shocked me […]

Tens of thousands of children are spending long chunks of their childhoods in unsuitable shared accommodation – sharing bathrooms with strangers, often in unpleasant conditions and cramped together in one small space without privacy. Since my research into the experiences of children living in poverty last summer, I have been pushing for an end to […]

I’ve designed a version of my Business Plan aimed specifically for children and young people, sharing the projects and themes that my office will be working on. As Children’s Commissioner for England, it is my job to listen to you and take your voices to decision makers. This will be my sixth and final year […]