The Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England has today laid its annual report and accounts for the period April 2023 to March 2024 before Parliament. Here, the Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza introduces these accounts, a summary of project work, impact and financial activity for the financial year.
Children may not have a vote, but I believe it’s essential they have a voice.
As Children’s Commissioner it’s my role and privilege to listen to what they think and to share their views so that policy makers can act on what young people want to improve their lives and the lives of others.
That’s why I have made it my mission over the last three years to speak to young people all over England about the issues they care about, that are impacting their lives.
I have also recruited my first group of 16 young Ambassadors, who are champions of children’s voices. They are passionate advocates about issues that affect children and young people.
Ahead of the election it seemed even more important to hear directly from young people, which is why I launched The Big Ambition last September. As part of this I visited schools, young offenders’ institutions, care settings, residential settings and many other places from Exeter in the south-west to Scunthorpe in the north-east and scores of other places in between.
I was really pleased to have had so many responses – more than 367,000 children (or adults replying on their behalf), including many whose views and voices are so often overlooked: those with a social worker, in secure settings or hospitals, or with special educational needs and disabilities.
Across the country young people shared concerns about mental health, the cost of living and education. Sadly, only 20 per cent told me that they felt listened to by politicians.
But, despite the challenges young people face, what was really heartening and perhaps surprising was the hope that these young people have about their futures; how optimistic they are.
This is not a cynical generation. This is a generation of children which has seen the transformative power of politics. They saw politicians take decisive action during Covid; they saw politicians find a vaccine. They are ambitious, with their own answers and solutions to the challenges we face. They have seen a new government take power, a change of gears, and they are eager to be heard.
We don’t want to speak for them – but they need us to listen and give them our help and support.
Listening to children is the golden thread that has run all my work over the last three years. It is my responsibility to work on and address issues facing children across the whole of the United Kingdom. I have convened and discussed matters that affect children with fellow colleagues from the British and Irish Network of Ombudsman and Children’s Commissioners (BINOCC) and will continue to do so.
I am now halfway through my term as Children’s Commissioner, and this is my fourth annual report. In my first year, I carried out The Big Ask, the largest ever survey of children which spoke about their hopes for the future as we emerged from a life-altering global pandemic; in my second, I carried out my independent Family Review, prioritising ambitious solutions to the questions posed in The Big Ask and calling for service improvements that replicate the stability and support of a family setting.
Most recently I published the findings of The Big Ambition in Parliament in March, surrounded by young people from all over the country and all with different backgrounds and stories. I have now spoken to more than a million children.
We developed seven pillars in The Big Ask in 2021, which underpinned all of our work over the last three years and using these as a basis for The Big Ambition we have established 10 thematic areas from the findings that children told us were their priorities. These will inform my work over the next three years and set a positive vision for what childhood could be like, if only it were reimagined through the eyes of children, underpinned by 33 ambitions.
These are ambitions that I want policy makers to adopt; big ambitions that young people want to see so they can try to live their best lives.
At the time of writing, a new Labour government has just taken office and a new political era is beginning. This new administration now has chance to reset, rethink and create a country that puts children at its heart. I look forward to working with incoming and returning politicians to shape this and share what children have entrusted me with.
One million children have spoken, and I feel confident in saying that the priorities I set out for the next three years are the priorities of the children of this country. My challenge to politicians, policy makers and every adult in government making decisions has always been to listen. Now I want to see them act.