“I would like it to rain books!” – children’s reflections on books, libraries and reading from The Big Future
“The joy of sharing a book together is one of the greatest gifts we can give a child. Reading helps children dream bigger, build confidence and feel connected.” – Frank Cottrell-Boyce, author and former Children’s Laureate Frank shared these powerful words after we joined a royal visit to Spellow Library. Her Majesty The Queen, Patron […]
The Big Future: Speaking to children in Scunthorpe
This week, I went to a place that, for many years, was home. I grew up in Scunthorpe. It is where my family – in the words of It’s A Wonderful Life – did their working and paying and living and dying. It is where my father became a skilled pipefitter at the steelworks, after […]
Putting young people at the heart of devolution
Today I am sharing a guest blog written by one of my former Youth Ambassadors, Rylie. Rylie was part of the first cohort of Ambassadors in 2024 and is from Darlington. After leaving school Rylie undertook an apprenticeship and works as a consultant, including as a global advisor on education and youth policy, supporting the […]
2026 WellChild Awards
Recently I had the privilege of attending the 20th WellChild Awards – an inspiring evening celebrating the courage and achievements of children and young people, as well as the families, carers and professionals who support them. As part of the evening’s celebrations, I was honoured to present the Inspirational Child 7–11 Award to 10-year-old […]
The Big Future: Speaking to children in Norfolk
The first few years of my time as Children’s Commissioner were immediately post Covid. In many ways, I imagined that the response to the pandemic, and its impact on children, would be what defined my time as Commissioner. It is so odd that it so clearly has, and yet in many ways this goes unacknowledged. […]
GPC spend over £500: 2026 – 2027
1 April 2026 – 30 June 2026 Transaction date Transaction amount Entity Details 28/4/2026 £1,642.92 OCC Office supplies / stationary 20/5/2026 £900.00 OCC Travel 30/5/2026 £1,063.48 OCC Social media services 5/6/2026 £825.00 OCC Party conference passes All figures shown are gross amounts paid inclusive of VAT (where applicable).
Spend over £25,000: 2026 – 2027
We publish details of all spending over £25,000 on a quarterly basis. 1 April 2026 – 30 June 2027 Nil All figures shown are gross amounts paid inclusive of VAT (where applicable).
Every child deserves a route to a successful future
A version of the below blog appeared in The FT in September 2026. Every time I speak to children their voices resonate with me, and I take something back to Westminster. Nowhere was that more true than last week on a visit to Scunthorpe, where I grew up. I visited the giant steelworks where my […]
What should education look like after 2030?
Today I am sharing a guest blog written by one of my former Youth Ambassadors, Rylie. Rylie was part of the first cohort of Ambassadors in 2024 – she has since gone to work as a global advisor on education and youth policy, supporting the Education Beyond 2030 process. Education Beyond 2030 is a global […]
AI in education: Initial reflections from the DfE’s youth advisory panel
How should artificial intelligence be used in education? What opportunities does it offer, what risks does it present and what safeguards should be in place? Most importantly, what will AI mean for the next generation of children and young people? These are some of the questions the Department for Education wants to explore with young […]
“Things began to change because people invested their time in me” – Reflections on being NEET and why I wrote to the Prime Minister
Yesterday, I published new findings showing that thousands of 16 and 17-year-olds enrolled in further education are attending less than half the time. These ‘hidden NEETs’ are effectively disengaged from education, but remain outside the official statistics on young people not in education, employment or training. Behind every statistic is a young person with their […]
Press Notice: Thousands of teenagers slipping through the cracks, as 42,000 ‘hidden NEETs’ remain enrolled in colleges but severely absent from learning
Tens of thousands of 16 and 17-year-olds enrolled in further education settings are severely absent and attending learning less than half the time – meaning they are disengaged from education but remain invisible to official NEET figures, the Children’s Commissioner has warned. Dame Rachel de Souza’s new analysis suggests the number of young people not […]
Archived Content
Children will keep dying on our streets until there is a joined up public health response to gangs
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, is today (Saturday) publishing a report assessing how effectively existing infrastructure within local authorities is being used to deliver a public health approach to preventing gang involvement and youth violence. The Children’s Commissioner concludes that two years on from her last report into this issue and a year after […]
Detention of unaccompanied children arriving in Kent during 2020
This briefing looks at the immediate conditions unaccompanied asylum-seeking children faced after travelling to the UK, usually via boat, during 2020. Specifically, it focuses on the children who arrived at the Kent Intake Unit, where children’s identities are checked and their initial asylum claims are processed before they can be accommodated by local authorities. After […]
Our joint call on the government to include a statutory duty on local authorities to fund community-based services in the Domestic Abuse Bill
The Children’s Commissioner, Anne Longfield, the Victims’ Commissioner, Dame Vera Baird QC, and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Nicole Jacobs, are jointly calling on the government to include a statutory duty on local authorities to fund community-based services in the Domestic Abuse Bill. In a joint statement, the Commissioners say: “It is vital that the government […]
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Children’s Commissioner’s podcast: Lockdown, school and football
In the second episode of the Children’s Commissioner’s podcast, Anne Longfield visits a school in South London where she talks to students about how the first coronavirus lockdown affected them, both at home and at school and what impact it had on their education and relationships. She also hears about a programme called Football Beyond […]
The state of children’s mental health services 2019/20
This is my fourth annual report on the state of children’s mental health services in England, and my last as Children’s Commissioner. I started this series of briefings because of the torrent of stories I was hearing from children about needing mental health services that weren’t there for them. I wanted to examine the data […]
Damage to children’s mental health caused by Covid crisis could last for years without a large-scale increase for children’s mental health services
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, is today (Thursday) publishing her fourth annual report on the state of children’s mental health services in England. The analysis examines the progress that has been made over the past five years as well as looking at the impact the Covid crisis has had on children’s mental health. The […]
Roadmap to reopening schools
Policy briefing Ever since last August, the Children’s Commissioner has said “Schools must be the last to close and the first to reopen.” This is now a well-used phrase as parents, teachers, scientists, politicians and the media all recognise the massive impact that the lockdowns are having on children’s education, and even more importantly, on […]
Our joint letter with Solace urging the PM to set-out a roadmap to reopen schools
The Children’s Commissioner and Solace have written a joint letter to the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, urging him to set-out a roadmap for the reopening of schools to all pupils. *** Dear Prime Minister, We are writing to urge you to set-out a roadmap for the reopening of schools to all pupils. We welcome your personal […]
Too many at-risk children are still invisible to social care
Since March 2020 when schools closed at the start of the first national lockdown, more families have fallen into poverty and all the major risk factors to children – domestic violence, poor parental mental health, and alcohol/substance abuse – have heightened. At the same time there has been a significant fall (by 10% compared to […]