The Big Ambition for Health
The physical and mental health of our children and young people is of paramount importance as it lays the foundation for their overall wellbeing and sets them up for future success. As Children’s Commissioner, I want all children to grow up feeling happy, healthy and well, with access to support quickly and locally when they […]
The Big Ambition for Families
Family is central to all of our lives, particularly children. The concept of family comes in many forms. For nearly every child we’ve spoken to it includes people outside of our traditional ‘immediate family’. This is an important distinction – because it isn’t how a family is made up that makes the biggest difference, it’s […]
The Big Ambition: Children’s views on school
As a headteacher and former trust leader, with over 30 years of experience in education, I have proudly been involved in the movement to raise standards in schools and to improve the educational outcomes for children across England. I have seen how children’s lives have been transformed by the improvements to schools over the last […]
The Big Ambition and quality family time
“To make children’s lives better they should make sure every child has a place to call home and parents who love and care for them.” Over the three years the Children’s Commissioner has heard from a million children, parents and carers, exploring how they experience family life. In The Big Ask the vast majority – […]
Business Plan 2024-25: a critical year for children’s rights
I am now half-way through my term as Children’s Commissioner, and this coming year will be a critical juncture for children’s rights. There will be a general election, and a new government – whichever party or parties form it – will have a new mandate to set out an ambitious vision for what childhood can […]
Giving all children a voice: Children’s Commissioner’s three-year strategy
“During my tenure, I want my work to improve the chances of every single child, whatever their early standing in life, wherever they are, from the inner city to the most remote corner of every county in England.” That quote is from my first day as Children’s Commissioner on 1 March 2021. Three years on […]
Business Plan 2024-2025
The Children’s Commissioner is now halfway through her term. The coming year will be a critical one for children’s rights, with a General Election and a new government – whichever party or parties form it. They will have a new mandate to set an ambitious vision for what childhood can be, and for putting children’s […]
Delivering the Children’s Commissioner’s Strategy: 2021-2024
The purpose of this paper is to provide a self-assessment on the progress the Children’s Commissioner’s Office has made against its three-year strategic (2021 -2024) plan. This has been divided into two sections:
The Big Ambition – The Story of a Million Children
The Big Ambition survey is a new large-scale consultation from the Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza. After the Children’s Commissioner’s The Big Ask in 2021, it is the second largest survey of its kind, with engagement from nearly 367,000 voices. In three years, this office has gathered close to a million responses […]
The Big Ambition: Ambitions, Findings and Solutions
As Children’s Commissioner it is my job to promote and protect the rights of children, and to make sure their voices are heard. That’s why in September 2023, I launched The Big Ambition to hear directly from children, young people, and parents across the country. I wanted to hear about what they wanted for the […]
One million voices: The Big Ambition calls for children’s solutions to be at the heart of election manifestos
Just one in five children in England believe their views are important to the adults who run the country, while only 10% of teenagers believe they have the power to influence the issues they care about. Findings in a landmark survey of children’s voices, The Big Ambition, published today by the Children’s Commissioner for England, […]
Children’s Commissioner’s response to Ofcom’s Guidance for service providers publishing pornographic content
This is a written response by the Children’s Commissioner to Ofcom’s consultation, Guidance for service providers publishing pornographic content, on the draft guidance for service providers publishing pornographic content under the Online Safety Act 2023. The Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has a statutory independent role to protect and promote the rights of […]
Archived Content
Anne Longfield responds to the Government’s announcement on knife crime
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, responding to the Government’s announcement on knife crime, said: “It is right that knife crime is seen as a public health issue, and that there is a duty put on those whose job it is to keep children safe to do so. “While this is a step forward, […]
Former Home Secretary and member of Children’s Commissioner advisory board Jacqui Smith responds to our vulnerability report
In April we celebrated the first year of the Sandwell Children’s Trust. In 2017, OFSTED found that services for the most vulnerable children and families in Sandwell were inadequate so the Trust was set up to drive improvement. I’m enormously proud of the progress we’re making. OFSTED have praised the grip and leadership of our […]
Childhood vulnerability in England 2019
The Children’s Commissioner’s 2019 childhood vulnerability report examines the latest scale of, and trends over time in, rates of childhood vulnerability. As with last year, we have estimated the total number of children in England currently receiving statutory support or intervention (those who are ‘in the system’). Based on the latest available data, we believe […]
Multi-billion pound tax cut promises from Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt should instead go on mending broken childhoods
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, has launched her third annual Vulnerability Report.
Children in families at risk – Local area maps
These maps present our projected proportions of children living in households where an adult has any of the so called ‘toxic trio’ factors present, or where multiple factors exist in the same household.
About the data
The data shows the overall levels of vulnerability and need among children and young people in England, published in our annual Vulnerability Report. We’ve spoken with children and young people, as well as organisations who work with children, to help us choose which groups to include and how to describe them. This has led to […]
IMO
IMO is a voice for teenagers in care and for care leavers. It is somewhere you can share stories, experiences and achievements, get and give advice, and find loads of great free stuff!
Digital 5 a day
Easy to follow, practical steps for children and parents to achieve a healthy and balanced digital diet
The paralysis currently affecting much of Whitehall and Westminster is letting down Children in Need
Anne Longfield responds to the government’s Children in Need review
Universal Credit – “Children are going hungry. It’s not a myth, it’s a fact.”
As Universal Credit rolls out across the country, we have been checking in regularly with a foodbank in an area which is transitioning to UC to see if there has been any noticeable impact on the number of families with children using their services. In our final instalment of this series, Linda, who runs a food bank in a […]
