In last five years, I have made the offline and online worlds safer for young people. I pushed for changes to child criminal exploitation laws to protect all children equally and strengthened the Victims Code. I uncovered widespread failings in use of strip searches leading to changes to guidance and training – and driving down use by police.
My research into online harms has led the debate and secured greater protections, such as revealing that more than a quarter (27%) of young people who had seen pornography said they had seen it online by 11. I have also produced guidance on screen-time for under 5s and am working on advice for 5-16 year-olds.
“I think the Government should try to make children feel safe whoever they are, wherever they are.”
Girl, 9
The Big Ambition
My first act as Children’s Commissioner was to listen to children. My 2021 survey of over half a million young people, The Big Ask, found that children of all backgrounds and abilities, right across the country, were happy, optimistic, and determined. But it was undeniable that some children – particularly many disabled children – face […]
Few issues have defined my tenure as Children’s Commissioner so sharply as the strip searching of children by police. As a former teacher and headteacher of 30 years, I thought I was hardened to the vast spectrum of failures in children’s rights, but the case of Child Q in Hackney five years ago shocked me […]
Tens of thousands of children are spending long chunks of their childhoods in unsuitable shared accommodation – sharing bathrooms with strangers, often in unpleasant conditions and cramped together in one small space without privacy. Since my research into the experiences of children living in poverty last summer, I have been pushing for an end to […]
I’ve designed a version of my Business Plan aimed specifically for children and young people, sharing the projects and themes that my office will be working on. As Children’s Commissioner for England, it is my job to listen to you and take your voices to decision makers. This will be my sixth and final year […]
2026–27 will be my final year as Children’s Commissioner, marking the conclusion of a six-year term that began in March 2021. It is a moment to take stock of how children’s lives have changed during that time, and to focus on the work that still needs to be done to give every child in England […]
For the past five years as Children’s Commissioner I have been speaking to children about the online world and its influence on childhood. It became clear to me very early on in the role that children today do not distinguish between ‘being online’ and ‘being offline’ in the way that adults do, or even in […]
Parenting today can feel overwhelming — especially when childhood looks so different from what we grew up with. There’s no manual, and it can be hard to keep up with the fast-changing digital world your child moves through every day. This guide aims to make those conversations easier and help you support your child with […]
Since becoming the Children’s Commissioner, I have travelled across the country meeting children whose lives are shaped by decisions made far away from them and those whose voices are rarely heard. Time and time again, I have witnessed children being held on custodial remand, not because they pose the greatest risk, but because the system […]
As Children’s Commissioner I have the privilege of speaking to and working with thousands of professionals supporting children in every aspect of their lives. I know first-hand how caring and dedicated the vast majority of them are, and how the relationships they build with children can be transformative. But I have also seen the other […]
In response to the shocking testimony of Child Q in 2022, I used my powers to obtain and publish police data on strip searching of children. My research provided a complete picture, for the first time ever, of how strip searches are conducted by police across England and Wales over five and a half years (2018 to June 2023) – including new data for 2022 to 2023.
My analysis confirmed that the issues are not confined to London – indeed, there are indications that outside of London the issues are even more deeply entrenched. I pushed for improvements to continue at pace, with fewer searches carried out, better data recording and improved practice. My latest research showed some progress but there are still far too many strip searches happening.
Children want to explore the online world, but they want to do so free from risky features such as addictive scrolling, strangers contacting them and explicit and harmful content. In my first two years in the role, I gathered the views and experiences of children and their parents and delivered a set of recommendations to strengthen the Online Safety Act. But concerns remain.
My research showed that children are being exposed to harmful content online and that platforms are failing to take appropriate action. As the Government considered a ban for under 16s I brought the views of young people and called for a reset – we should ban services and platforms with risk features, not our children. At the same time I have published screen time guidance for under 5s and am working on guidance for 5–16-year-olds
