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Business Plan 2024-25: a critical year for children’s rights

28 March 2024

I am now half-way through my term as Children’s Commissioner, and this coming year will be a critical juncture for children’s rights. There will be a general election, and a new government – whichever party or parties form it – will have a new mandate to set out an ambitious vision for what childhood can […]

News

Giving all children a voice: Children’s Commissioner’s three-year strategy

“During my tenure, I want my work to improve the chances of every single child, whatever their early standing in life, wherever they are, from the inner city to the most remote corner of every county in England.” That quote is from my first day as Children’s Commissioner on 1 March 2021. Three years on […]

Corporate Governance

Business Plan 2024-2025

The Children’s Commissioner is now halfway through her term. The coming year will be a critical one for children’s rights, with a General Election and a new government – whichever party or parties form it. They will have a new mandate to set an ambitious vision for what childhood can be, and for putting children’s […]

Corporate Governance

Delivering the Children’s Commissioner’s Strategy: 2021-2024

The purpose of this paper is to provide a self-assessment on the progress the Children’s Commissioner’s Office has made against its three-year strategic (2021 -2024) plan. This has been divided into two sections:

Corporate Governance

The Big Ambition – The Story of a Million Children

26 March 2024

The Big Ambition survey is a new large-scale consultation from the Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza. After the Children’s Commissioner’s The Big Ask in 2021, it is the second largest survey of its kind, with engagement from nearly 367,000 voices. In three years, this office has gathered close to a million responses […]

News

The Big Ambition: Ambitions, Findings and Solutions

25 March 2024

As Children’s Commissioner it is my job to promote and protect the rights of children, and to make sure their voices are heard. That’s why in September 2023, I launched The Big Ambition to hear directly from children, young people, and parents across the country. I wanted to hear about what they wanted for the […]

Report

One million voices: The Big Ambition calls for children’s solutions to be at the heart of election manifestos

Just one in five children in England believe their views are important to the adults who run the country, while only 10% of teenagers believe they have the power to influence the issues they care about. Findings in a landmark survey of children’s voices, The Big Ambition, published today by the Children’s Commissioner for England, […]

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One million children's voices captured

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children: record numbers arriving once again in Kent

22 March 2024

My unique responsibility as Children’s Commissioner, enshrined in law, is to protect children and give them a voice – and I have a particular duty of care towards those children who aren’t able to live with their birth families. That includes those arriving on these shores completely alone, having left their families to escape war, […]

News

Children’s Commissioner welcomes closure of Cookham Wood

21 March 2024

In response to the decision by the Youth Custody Service (YCS) and the Ministry of Justice today to close down HMYOI Cookham Wood. Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza said: I welcome today’s decision by the Youth Custody Service (YCS) and the Ministry of Justice today to close down HMYOI Cookham Wood. I […]

News

Reaction to the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, from young Ambassadors

20 March 2024

Today the Prime Minister has renewed his commitment to creating a smoke free generation by banning the next generation from being able to buy cigarettes. Introduced today, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will prevent anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 – in effect anyone who is 14 or younger now – from legally […]

News

Over a quarter of a million children still waiting for mental health support

15 March 2024

Shocking new statistics show that more than a quarter of a million (270,300) children and young people are still waiting for mental health support after being referred to Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) in 2022-23, the Children’s Commissioner for England has revealed today. New figures sourced from NHS England using the Children’s […]

News

Children’s mental health services 2022-23

14 March 2024

Since I came into post in 2021, I have spoken to over a million children and young people across the country. The vast majority of children are happy, and feel supported by their family, school and wider community. However, there is a growing group of children who are struggling with their mental health. This generation […]

Report

Archived Content

Pass the parcel: children posted around the care system

24 December 2019

“I feel like a parcel getting moved around all the time, getting opened up and sent back and moved on to somewhere else.” Teenage girl, in care over 100 miles from home There are over 30,000 looked after children living ‘out of area’ in England. This is 41% of all children in care and has […]

Report
Teenager walking with backpack

Thousands of children in care passed around the system like parcels and living miles away from family and friends

Shining a light on the experiences of children in care who are moved ‘out of area’ – away from their home boroughs where family and friends live.

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Teenager walking with backpack

Receive our vacancies by email

29 November 2019

Sign up to receive our latest vacancies by email We will send you an email each Friday if we publish any new vacancies during that week. If we don’t publish any new vacancies, you won’t get an email. Email address Email preferences As well as receiving our latest vacancies, you can also receive our regular […]

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Marking 30 years of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child with call on political parties to put the spotlight on children during election campaign

5 November 2019

Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, is calling on the political parties fighting the General Election to put the spotlight on children’s issues, as she joins the Children’s Commissioners for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in publishing an assessment of the UK’s progress on children’s rights. This month marks the 30th anniversary of the UN […]

News

UK Children’s Commissioners’ UNCRC mid-term review

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a landmark agreement by governments around the world on the rights of children. As Children’s Commissioners it is central to our mission to make sure that those rights are made a reality for all children. The United Nations […]

Report

Response to the Home and Foreign Secretaries regarding British children in Syria

Earlier this year Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, wrote to the Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary regarding the safety and welfare of British children who have become involved in the conflict in Syria. The following is the Children Commissioner for England’s latest response to Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Office […]

News

Nurture with nature: Why environmental engagement is imperative for children

4 November 2019

We know that the health of the environment is one of children’s greatest concerns, as outlined in Issue 1 of our Children’s Insights reports. The word ‘environment’ is likely to stir a very different reaction amongst children than it used to. Many children face the incompatible situation of a lifestyle divorced from nature, and mounting […]

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Girl in park

EU children in Britain

29 October 2019

This page was published in 2019 and may contain out of date information.  Know your rights to stay in Britain If you are an EU citizen living in Britain, Brexit will affect your rights. This means you will need to apply for what the Government calls ‘settled status’ in Britain. What is settled status? Settled […]

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Union flag and EU flag

Children’s insights

This is the first issue in our regular series of insights into the views and experiences of children in England.

Report

Changes to gambling laws needed as our report into online gaming reveals children’s gambling fears

22 October 2019

Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, has published a report, “Gaming the system’’ which looks at the experiences of children who play games online. The Children’s Commissioner’s Office commissioned the research company Revealing Reality to speak to groups of children who play online games like FIFA, Fortnite and Roblox about what they love and what […]

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