The Big Future

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 […]

As I enter my final year as Children’s Commissioner, one thing is clear: before we make decisions that affect young people, we need to listen to young people. Children’s mental health is no exception. I am in no doubt that we are facing a crisis in young people’s mental health. The number of children with a referral […]

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 […]

Recently I visited a children’s hospital where I came across a little girl. She was tiny but said hello confidently. I asked who she was – and was told that she lived at the hospital. She was not too sick to leave, but her parents were unable – or unwilling – to take her home, […]

In 2024, I used my data powers on schools and colleges for the first time, conducting a census to better understand the support that educational establishments offer children. This report is the third in this series. The first, The Children’s Plan, examines what whole system reform could and should look like. The second, The Children’s […]

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 […]