Children’s Commissioner launches recruitment for Youth Ambassadors
Today I’m launching recruitment for my third – and final – group of Youth Ambassadors. As I begin my final year as Children’s Commissioner for England in March, this cohort of Ambassadors will play a critical role in holding decision makers accountable for what we need to see happen to improve children’s lives. It’s going […]
Press Notice: Special schools and alternative provision settings ‘fighting uphill battle’ as poverty, staffing and data gaps hinder support for vulnerable pupils
Special schools and alternative provision settings are fighting an “uphill battle”, often serving children in some of the most deprived areas of the country while lacking the vital information about their needs to properly support them, the Children’s Commissioner has warned. Dame Rachel de Souza’s latest report provides, for the first time, a comprehensive national picture of resources, staffing and social challenges across state-funded […]
“We have the most vulnerable children, but less support” Special and alternative provision sector report: The Children’s Commissioner’s School Census
Recently, my office published The Children’s Plan: The Children’s Commissioner’s School Census. For the first time, I used my data powers on schools, conducting a census to better understand how leaders and staff are supporting the children in our school system in ways far beyond teaching. For most children in England, education reforms have transformed […]
Statement from the Children’s Commissioner on the government’s Child Poverty Strategy
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: “This is a strategy that has listened to the recommendations from thousands of children. I am grateful to the government for listening and acting in response to some of the biggest hardships in their families’ lives. “Removing the two-child limit is the single biggest opportunity to transform the […]
Advisory board
The Children’s Commissioner’s Advisory Board challenges and advises the office and meets four-six times a year. The Advisory Board, a requirement of the Children and Families Act 2014, is made up of representatives from across children’s and wider sectors. The Advisory Board advises on how the powers of the Children’s Commissioner can be used to […]
How Help at Hand supports care leavers
My Help at Hand team offers advice and assistance to children in care, children living away from home, children with a social worker, and to care leavers up to the age of 25. Together, this small team of child’s rights experts manage upwards of 100 cases each month on average, carrying out my statutory duty to promote and protect the […]
Why the Crime and Policing Bill must go further to protect children online
Today the Crime and Policing Bill returns to Parliament, with a number of amendments due for debate that aim to tackle some of the most harmful risks children are facing online today. Some of these are directly related to my own work on the scale and severity of emerging threats online: regulating violent pornography and banning nudification tools. The evidence is clear – children are exposed to serious harms online long before they turn 18. The tabled amendments […]
Guest Blog: “Rising as Me”, Reflections on National Care Leavers’ Month
As we continue to mark National Care Leavers’ Month, this guest blog sees Victoria Odude from the Young People’s Benchmarking Forum at Catch22 speak to Abena Dadey from the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum. The Young People’s Benchmarking Forum (YPBMF) brings the voices and priorities of care experienced young people into the heart of the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum (NLCBF, or […]
Statement from the Children’s Commissioner in response to removal of the two-child benefit cap – Budget response
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: “Removing the two-child limit is a vital first step towards lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty quickly, with the potential to transform their lives. I have long called for its removal because it is the right thing to do when there are children growing up […]
Guest blog: Supporting care leavers to thrive at the University of Hertfordshire
Michelle Wakefield is a Student Success Officer and the dedicated contact for care experienced and estranged students at the University of Hertfordshire. She is passionate about creating a sense of belonging and ensuring every student has the support they need to succeed. At the University of Hertfordshire (Herts), we aim to transform bold ambition into […]
Guest blog: Harnessing employability skills – a student success story: the Greenwich Cares Student Ambassadors Initiative
Monika Varga is a Care Leaver Adviser with the Greenwich Cares team at the University of Greenwich. The University of Greenwich has one of the largest groups of care experienced students in the country, welcoming around 100 new starters in 2024/25 and on track to reach similar numbers this year. While on my way to work, I overheard a lively […]
Supporting care experienced young people at school: Reflections from my Youth Ambassadors
Children in care are often forced to navigate additional challenges at school that their peers never imagine – I’ve seen this first-hand both as Children’s Commissioner but also as a teacher and headteacher before. This Care Leavers’ Month sets out how children should be supported for a greater range of additional needs – I have asked some of my care experienced Youth Ambassadors to share their experiences of school. This builds on […]
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 […]
Feedback
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 […]