Briefing for Peers on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – May 2025
The Children’s Commissioner for England has a legal duty to promote and protect the rights of all children in England, including those in care, living away from home, or receiving social care services, in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It is essential that this legislation includes measures for ensuring […]
Children’s Commissioner calls for urgent action to tackle waiting times and inequality in mental health care for children
The Children’s Commissioner’s annual report on the state of children’s mental health services highlights huge inequalities when it comes to accessing support, with some young people waiting up to 17 times longer than others depending on where they live. In her fourth annual report, Dame Rachel de Souza sets out children’s experiences with mental health […]
Children’s mental health services 2023-24
As Children’s Commissioner, it is my job to make sure we never lose sight of the biggest challenges affecting children – mental health is one of the most significant. Each year, I publish this report to shine a spotlight on the state of children’s mental health services in England. This is the fourth report of […]
Statement from the Children’s Commissioner on the Report Stage of the Assisted Dying Bill
My greatest privilege as Children’s Commissioner is to listen to children and amplify their voices on the issues that matter most to them – both those that affect them directly, and those that may appear at first glance to lie beyond their immediate experience. Legislation like the Assisted Dying Bill is one such issue. Although […]
Mental Health Awareness Week 2025: The importance of community from my Young Ambassadors
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, an important time to raise awareness, break the stigma and encourage open conversations about mental health and wellbeing. The theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is ‘community’ – an important aspect in many young people’s lives. As Children’s Commissioner, I often hear from children and young […]
Children need to be kept safe online, it is our responsibility to protect them
An abridged version of the below blog appeared in the BMJ on April 10. Throughout my time as Children’s Commissioner, I have heard from a million children and young people about their hopes, ambitions, and concerns. An issue which frequently comes up in these conversations is how young people can spend time online safely and […]
Children’s views on assisted dying
As Children’s Commissioner, it is my greatest privilege to listen to children and to amplify their voices on the issues that matter most to them — both those that affect them directly, and those that may appear, at first glance, to lie beyond their immediate experience. At the heart of my role, as defined in […]
Children’s Commissioners unite to call for equal protection for children from assault in UK
Every child in the United Kingdom must have the same protection from assault as adults, four Children’s Commissioners have united to say in a joint statement. The Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, and her colleagues in Scotland, Nicola Killean, Wales, Rocio Cifuentes and Northern Ireland, Chris Quinn, have come together to intervene […]
Statement from the Children’s Commissioner on ‘Victims in their own right?’, a report by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales
I welcome this report which echoes my own work in calling for children to be recognised not as witnesses to domestic abuse but as victims in their own right. Too often the voices of child victims are ignored or sidelined, but their experiences must be given the same attention, support and protection as adults because […]
Press Notice: Children’s Commissioner calls for immediate ban of AI apps that enable ‘deepfake’ sexual abuse of children
The Children’s Commissioner is calling on the government to introduce a total ban on apps that use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate sexually explicit ‘deepfake’ images of children. Dame Rachel de Souza’s new report exposes how Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is being misused to create sexually explicit deepfake images of real people, and the alarming […]
“One day this could happen to me” – Children, nudification tools and sexually explicit deepfakes
The growth of the online world is a technological revolution, the likes of which hasn’t been witnessed in centuries. The internet has enhanced our lives immeasurably, by opening up education, communication and research in ways those of us who are now well into our adulthoods might never have imagined. For children growing up in 2025, […]
Statement from the Children’s Commissioner on the proposed use of pelargonic acid vanillylamide (PAVA) on children in Young Offender Institutions
As Children’s Commissioner, my top priority is for all children to be safe, happy and cared for. That just must include children in prison. I am deeply disappointed to see today’s plans to introduce the use of chemical irritant sprays such as pelargonic acid vanillylamide (known as PAVA) on children in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). […]
Archived Content
Improving the living situation of children living in secure accommodation
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commisioner for England, has written to Vicky Ford MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, Lucy Frazer QC MP, Minister of State, Ministry of Justice and Nadine Dorries MP, Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health regarding concerns about children in living in secure accommodation, particularly those […]
Children in custody during lockdown
Since the start of the Covid pandemic, the Children’s Commissioner’s Office has investigated and highlighted concerns about the treatment of children in secure settings. Our briefing in May used data collected from the Youth Custody Service (YCS) alongside a series of interviews with children to shine a light on conditions for children in custody during […]
Help at Hand annual report 2020
Our 2020 annual report for Help at Hand, our advice line for children in care.
Response to the DfE’s announcement on unregulated accommodation for children in care
Anne Longfield, responding to the DfE’s announcement on unregulated accommodation for children in care, said: “The Government’s ban on unregulated provision for under-16s in care is very welcome, but needs to go further and include all under-18s. There are too many teenage children in care living in completely unsuitable and sometimes dangerous accommodation, including hostels […]
Five things you need to know about SEN in schools
How children’s needs are met (or go unmet) in schools, and the implications of these for the SEND Review and other reforms
Building back better
When I became Children’s Commissioner for England six years ago, I set out an ambitious vision for a nation where childhood is understood and celebrated and where the voice of all children is listened to at the heart of Government. I had in mind a particular group of children who, in my experience of working […]
Building back better – Anne Longfield’s final speech as Children’s Commissioner
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, has delivered her final speech in post with a challenge to the Prime Minister to show he is serious about children by putting them at the heart of his post-Covid plans. Her speech warned that the Prime Minister’s promise to ‘level up’ will be ‘just a slogan unless […]
Speech
Characteristics of children entering care for the first time as teenagers
Last year, research from my office showed that even before the pandemic, there were 120,000 highly vulnerable children in England who were falling through the gaps in education and social care. This group of children – equivalent to 1 in 25 13-17 year olds – all had significant additional needs and vulnerabilities but were not […]
Spend over £25,000: 2020 – 2021
We publish details of all spending over £25,000 on a quarterly basis. 1 April 2020 – 30 June 2020 Nil 1 July 2020 – 30 September 2020 Transaction date Merchant name Transaction amount Entity Details 14/08/2020 National Audit Office £33,600.00 OCC External Audit Services 1 October 2020 – 31 December 2020 Nil 1 January 2021 […]
Still not safe
The public health response to youth violence
