Statement from the Children’s Commissioner in response to the SEND Improvement Plan
The Department for Education (DfE) has today published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan (hereafter the Plan). The Plan sets out how DfE intends to deliver ‘a single national system that delivers consistently for every child and young person with SEND and in alternative provision’. The review of the SEND system […]
Statement
Statement from the Children’s Commissioner in response to the SEND Improvement Plan
The Department for Education (DfE) has today published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan (hereafter the Plan). The Plan sets out how DfE intends to deliver ‘a single national system that delivers consistently for every child and young person with SEND and in alternative provision’. The review of the […]
Celebrating two years as Children’s Commissioner
Today marks the second anniversary of my appointment as Children’s Commissioner for England, and what a two years it has been! What began with The Big Ask, which received over half a million responses (making it the largest ever survey of children and young people in the country), has led to a vision for supporting […]
Statement from the Commissioner on the legal age of marriage
Today (27th February), it has been announced that the legal age of marriage in England and Wales has risen to eighteen. This is to protect vulnerable children from the damaging impact of forced marriage. The Children’s Commissioner has previously called for a change in the law to end child marriage and therefore welcomes today’s announcement. […]
Statement
Frankie Thomas’s death: the Children’s Commissioner urges action to prevent another tragedy
It was my privilege to meet with Judy and Andy Thomas, bereaved parents of Frankie Thomas, alongside the Children’s Minister Claire Coutinho and the Secretary of State for DLUHC, Michael Gove MP, last week. Judy and Andy spoke to us about their lively, loving and fearless daughter Frankie. Frankie was just 15 when she took […]
Childcare in crisis: how do we fix a broken system?
Earlier today, Children’s Commissioner was delighted to speak at a panel event, organised by the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and King’s College London, on the issue of childcare in the UK. You can watch the full event here. Thanks so much. Firstly can I start by saying thank you to Bridget for her words […]
“Listen to us” – young people’s views of the SEND system
This week I was fortunate to meet and talk to four teenagers representing the Disabled Children’s Partnership’s Youth Advisory Group: Harshi, Amber, Sam and Udi. These four articulate young people have a range of learning support needs, disabilities and long-term health needs, and have had experience of both the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) […]
Letter to the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR)
Dear Joanna Cherry KC MP, RE: Follow-up from the oral evidence session on 18 January Thank you for your letter and for inviting me to give evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR). I also want to say thank you to the wider committee members for maintaining a consistent focus on ensuring that […]
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Attendance is everyone’s business
To support the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into children’s absence from school, This report summarises the key findings from my attendance audit.
The Children’s Commissioner’s team visits the Little Princess Trust
Yesterday, we visited the Little Princess Trust, a charity which gives hair and hope to children with cancer. We were hosted by Phil Brace the CEO and Wendy Tarplee-Morris the Director of Service and Impact and Co-Founder at the Little Princess Trust. The charity was started in 2006 by Wendy and Simon the parents of […]
Career planning resources for care leavers
As Children’s Commissioner, I have a statutory duty to provide advice, assistance, and representation to care leavers up to the age of 25, to ensure your rights are respected and you receive the services you are entitled to. I’ve made it a priority to listen to care leavers and reflect back your experiences to policymakers […]
Archived Content
Pass the parcel: children posted around the care system
“I feel like a parcel getting moved around all the time, getting opened up and sent back and moved on to somewhere else.” Teenage girl, in care over 100 miles from home There are over 30,000 looked after children living ‘out of area’ in England. This is 41% of all children in care and has […]
Thousands of children in care passed around the system like parcels and living miles away from family and friends
Shining a light on the experiences of children in care who are moved ‘out of area’ – away from their home boroughs where family and friends live.
Receive our vacancies by email
Sign up to receive our latest vacancies by email We will send you an email each Friday if we publish any new vacancies during that week. If we don’t publish any new vacancies, you won’t get an email. Email address Email preferences As well as receiving our latest vacancies, you can also receive our regular […]
Marking 30 years of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child with call on political parties to put the spotlight on children during election campaign
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, is calling on the political parties fighting the General Election to put the spotlight on children’s issues, as she joins the Children’s Commissioners for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in publishing an assessment of the UK’s progress on children’s rights. This month marks the 30th anniversary of the UN […]
UK Children’s Commissioners’ UNCRC mid-term review
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a landmark agreement by governments around the world on the rights of children. As Children’s Commissioners it is central to our mission to make sure that those rights are made a reality for all children. The United Nations […]
Response to the Home and Foreign Secretaries regarding British children in Syria
Earlier this year Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, wrote to the Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary regarding the safety and welfare of British children who have become involved in the conflict in Syria. The following is the Children Commissioner for England’s latest response to Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Office […]
Nurture with nature: Why environmental engagement is imperative for children
We know that the health of the environment is one of children’s greatest concerns, as outlined in Issue 1 of our Children’s Insights reports. The word ‘environment’ is likely to stir a very different reaction amongst children than it used to. Many children face the incompatible situation of a lifestyle divorced from nature, and mounting […]
EU children in Britain
This page was published in 2019 and may contain out of date information. Know your rights to stay in Britain If you are an EU citizen living in Britain, Brexit will affect your rights. This means you will need to apply for what the Government calls ‘settled status’ in Britain. What is settled status? Settled […]
Children’s insights
This is the first issue in our regular series of insights into the views and experiences of children in England.
Changes to gambling laws needed as our report into online gaming reveals children’s gambling fears
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, has published a report, “Gaming the system’’ which looks at the experiences of children who play games online. The Children’s Commissioner’s Office commissioned the research company Revealing Reality to speak to groups of children who play online games like FIFA, Fortnite and Roblox about what they love and what […]
