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The first child I spoke to at Bournemouth Football Club was beaming. The day before he had scored a hat-trick in a final at a competition, in Fulham. When I asked a second girl what the best thing about playing football here – at AFC’s Impairment Under 12s – I was told about her improvement: “I […]

As young people get their exam results it’s a time for many to think about the future. The next stage of education can be daunting and uncertain for everyone but especially for young people who are care experienced. They face additional difficulties and complexities, which is why I have published an updated version of the […]

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 […]

A version of the below blog appeared on Alan Milburn‘s One Million Futures Substack examining why youth inactivity is rising in Britain. On a sunny afternoon, a couple of days after the England men’s team’s heart-breaking semi-final defeat in the World Cup, I sat on the stands at Anfield with a group of young people.  […]

When I launched The Big Future survey earlier this year, I set the ambitious goal of hearing directly from a million children and young people about their lives and the future they want.   Just ten weeks on from the launch of the survey, more than 600,000 children and young people have already shared their views – surpassing the response numbers for both my previous surveys, The Big Ask and The Big […]

Ask a Mancunian about England’s second city – so the story goes – and they will tell you it is Manchester. Ask a Brummie, and they’ll tell you it’s Birmingham.   Scousers will tell you it is London.  Of course, this is just a story; though recent polling suggests that it isn’t far from the mark. Nevertheless, as I sat in front of young […]

Yesterday I shared what the first half of my Youth Ambassadors wanted the new Prime Minister to focus on to improve children’s lives – their answers focused on what the Andy Burnham should do to make children’s lives better across health, education, children’s social care and how to improve access to jobs and skills for […]

“We will help more young people into work by changing the education system and giving them more support – more mental health support.” On the steps of Downing Street, in his first speech as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham put young people at the heart of his vision for the country. As Children’s Commissioner, I have […]

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: “Children want to do well; they want to work when they get older – but right now the thought of finding a job is a source of stress. Too many find themselves neither in education, employment or training. We need to respond to their ambition with bold policy […]

Care experienced and aged 16-18? The Children’s Commissioner wants to give care experienced children and young people a direct say in how children’s social care services are inspected. We are looking to recruit a group of young people to attend a 2-day project in London this summer. Apply here. About the project Children’s social care […]

The Children’s Commissioner is warning that disabled children from low-income families are missing the opportunity to enjoy the school holidays because activities are too far away, inaccessible or lack the specialist support they need.   Dame Rachel de Souza’s new report finds that children with specialist educational needs and disabilities (SEND) from disadvantaged backgrounds are around a third less likely […]

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 […]