The Childhood Lottery: The hardest places to grow up in England

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 and the variation in the services which will be available to them.

Young people know this better than anyone. I’ve spoken to many thousands of children across England. Whether we’re in a school in Dewsbury or a skatepark in Norwich, one thing remains the same. They don’t talk about government policy and deride Westminster debates – they tell the story of their lives through the places they live in, the services they turn to and the outcomes they see around them. That is the lens I wanted to look at childhood through.

Throughout my time as Children’s Commissioner, I have used data to expose the greatest challenges facing children – from police strip searching children to young people trapped in hospitals. But this time I have not taken one measure or metric – I have looked at more than 160. This gives us a unique perspective, a ground-up view of children’s lives and the challenges they face which allows the connections between education, health and safety to be seen.

I have called the report the Childhood Lottery, because of the enormous disparities I have found – both between places and within an area.

The differences are staggering.

In four local authorities, the total amount spent on youth services per teenager is the princely sum of £0, £421 less than in the highest spending local authority. Some areas of the country are sending nearly 90% of their looked after children to out-of-area placements, compared to the almost 20% in the areas making least use of these – although given this means being away from family ties, and friends, that is still worryingly high.

But what stands out is not merely these differences, but how much work there is to do to deliver a happy, healthy childhood in every postcode. I have made the difficult decision to highlight the 20 places where it is hardest to grow up. I want to be clear that this is not a review of the local authority, this is an assessment based on a wide range of measures looking at the challenges faced, the full range of services available and the outcomes we see.

We cannot shy away, though, from the fact that poor education outcomes, long health waiting lists or simply feeling unsafe converge in particular places. It is also no coincidence that as Children’s Commissioner I have already visited many of them. I hope by presenting the data in this new way we can shine a light on the local, regional and national action needed to improve children’s lives in these areas.

At the same time, I want to make clear that every single local area in England has work to do to make lives better for their children. This includes the 20 places where data show childhood is least hard, like Leicestershire, where access to Mental Health Support Teams is lowest in England. All regions are represented in the 25 places where the data shows childhood is hardest, including Middlesbrough in the north east, Bradford in Yorkshire and the Humber, Hounslow in London, Peterborough in the east of England, Liverpool in the north west, Somerset in the south west, Nottingham in the east Midlands, and Birmingham in the west Midlands. We have an opportunity to change this. The government is planning a once-in-a generation rewiring of the state to devolve power and spending to communities. I am putting forward a test for devolution: will it deliver for children? Will it ensure that children in every postcode can thrive? Will it reduce – end – the disparities shown in this report?

I visit children across England, to speak to them wherever they may be – YOIs, Tier 4 Wards to schools and youth clubs. Some of the things I have seen and heard recently have utterly disgusted me. Two weeks ago, based on some of the data in this report, I visited Middlesbrough, to hear from children in one of the most difficult places to be a child.

I have seen what it looks like for children to grow up in a difficult place. I have listened to a 14-year old girl tell me about the crime statistics in her local area. Children should not have to know those statistics. Their parents should not have to talk about them over dinner to explain why children cannot play outside. Schools should not have administrative staff dealing with drug overdoses and racist thugs. Nowhere in England should ‘a chase from the police’ be a primary source of entertainment.

Devolution represents a chance to solve this. If it is truly a project to rewire the state, there may not be an opportunity so significant in a decade or more.

Giving power to local decision makers should lead to more responsive public services. This data shows that no two areas are the same. Local policy makers and those delivering services must be able to react to the challenges their children face to improve their lives. For that to work, mayors and local decision makers must be given the right tools to improve children’s lives including access to centrally held data, funding to accompany new responsibilities and clearly defined minimum standards.

And where these standards are not being hit, I have called for something that I have deliberately avoided for much of my time as Children’s Commissioner. On the whole, I have resisted the call to reduce everything to funding; focusing as much on delivery of resources, and accountability for outcomes, as the quantity of them.

I cannot do that here.

The extent of failure is too great. I cannot see what I have seen, here and over my six years as Commissioner, and see the status quo as anything less than a national emergency. As such, I firmly believe that a national Children’s Emergency Fund must be established, to bring services above a minimum level wherever they are found to be below par.

But the placement of greater power – and funding – in local areas must go hand-in-hand with greater local accountability. Every strategic authority should appoint a Deputy Mayor or designated leader for children and families to drive improvements in outcomes for children across their region, convene local authorities where progress is falling short, and be empowered with the responsibility and resources to intervene when outcomes are not being delivered.

We cannot tolerate the status quo. Children care so deeply about where they live – that is why I have undertaken this work.

Local, regional and national decision makers need to take a hard look at this data and understand what they need to change so that they can start delivering for children.

Children are proud of their local area. They are generally proud of where they grow up, regardless of the challenges.

It is time that pride was reciprocated. It is time we all ensure that every child has something to be truly proud of.