Business Plan, 2025-26
The year ahead – 2025-26 – will be my penultimate year as Children’s Commissioner for England. It will also mark 20 years since the establishment of this office – a milestone that offers an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made and a reminder about the many urgent challenges that remain. More than […]
Press Notice: ‘Crisis in childhood’ warns Children’s Commissioner, as she hosts inaugural Festival of Childhood – calling on decision makers to listen to children Â
Children are facing a ‘crisis in childhood’, the Children’s Commissioner will warn in a speech this morning, with many turning to the online world for answers as they feel increasingly ‘disconnected’ from society. Speaking at her inaugural Festival of Childhood: Our Future, Our Voice, hosted at Young V&A, Dame Rachel de Souza will urge adult […]
My Plan for the year, 2025-26
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. In my survey, The Big Ambition, only one […]
Business Plan, 2025-26
The year ahead – 2025-26 – will be my penultimate year as Children’s Commissioner for England. It will also mark 20 years since the establishment of this office – a milestone that offers an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made and a reminder about the many urgent challenges that remain. More than […]
The impact of housing instability on children’s GCSE grades
Every child should have a loving, secure home, but when it comes to housing, children get a raw deal. Thousands of children are living in temporary accommodation, including many in emergency ‘B&B’ style accommodation for longer than the statutory six-week limit1 – and they are paying the price of this disruption and instability in their […]
Press Notice: Children living in unfit housing must have voices heard, Children’s Commissioner warns as she reveals its stark impact on their GCSE success  Â
New evidence from the Children’s Commissioner has revealed for the first time the stark relationship between frequent home moves and children’s GCSE results. Just 11% of children who move home more than 10 times during their time at school achieve five GCSE passes, including in English and maths – compared to 65% of those who […]
No child should be homeless: how housing instability affects a child’s GCSE grades
Every child should have a loving, secure home, but when it comes to housing, children get a raw deal. Thousands of children are living in temporary accommodation, including many in emergency ‘B&B’ style accommodation for longer than the statutory six-week limit1 – and they are paying the price of this disruption and instability in their […]
Our Future Our Voice: A Festival of Childhood
The Festival shared the issues one million children have told the Commissioner are vital to make England the best place to be a child. It explored the joy of childhood, from the importance of early years to the skills needed in adulthood, through debate, art and music. In April 2025, the Children’s Commissioner hosted her […]
The power of storytelling in highlighting the reality of strip searching for young people Â
Back in December 2020, a 15-year-old schoolgirl was strip-searched by police officers at her school in Hackney while on her period. This happened without the presence of an appropriate adult, after she was wrongly accused of having drugs on her. Almost two years later, her story became public as the case of ‘Child Q’. Her […]
Celebrating one year of The Big Ambition
It’s hard to believe, but a year has passed since I published the results of The Big Ambition survey in Parliament, a large-scale consultation with children to understand how they feel and to gain insights on their experiences of growing up in this country. I wanted to use my unique powers as Children’s Commissioner to […]
Putting children’s voices at the heart of the NHS 10-Year planÂ
The government is currently consulting on the NHS 10-Year Plan, which will set the course for our health service over the next decade. It is critical that children and young people are not left out of this national conversation, so I was delighted that some of my Young Ambassadors and members of my newly formed […]
The Big Conversation Podcast – Episode 6 – Mina Gerhardsen, Norwegian Ombudsperson for Children
The Big Conversation: In conversation with the Children’s Commissioner and her youth Ambassadors is my podcast series where I share the voices and views of England’s children. The podcast draws on the themes in The Big Ambition and will focus on the most important issues that are impacting young people’s lives, with solutions developed with […]
Archived Content
Improving the living situation of children living in secure accommodation
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commisioner for England, has written to Vicky Ford MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, Lucy Frazer QC MP, Minister of State, Ministry of Justice and Nadine Dorries MP, Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health regarding concerns about children in living in secure accommodation, particularly those […]
Children in custody during lockdown
Since the start of the Covid pandemic, the Children’s Commissioner’s Office has investigated and highlighted concerns about the treatment of children in secure settings. Our briefing in May used data collected from the Youth Custody Service (YCS) alongside a series of interviews with children to shine a light on conditions for children in custody during […]
Help at Hand annual report 2020
Our 2020 annual report for Help at Hand, our advice line for children in care.
Response to the DfE’s announcement on unregulated accommodation for children in care
Anne Longfield, responding to the DfE’s announcement on unregulated accommodation for children in care, said: “The Government’s ban on unregulated provision for under-16s in care is very welcome, but needs to go further and include all under-18s. There are too many teenage children in care living in completely unsuitable and sometimes dangerous accommodation, including hostels […]
Five things you need to know about SEN in schools
How children’s needs are met (or go unmet) in schools, and the implications of these for the SEND Review and other reforms
Building back better
When I became Children’s Commissioner for England six years ago, I set out an ambitious vision for a nation where childhood is understood and celebrated and where the voice of all children is listened to at the heart of Government. I had in mind a particular group of children who, in my experience of working […]
Building back better – Anne Longfield’s final speech as Children’s Commissioner
 Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, has delivered her final speech in post with a challenge to the Prime Minister to show he is serious about children by putting them at the heart of his post-Covid plans. Her speech warned that the Prime Minister’s promise to ‘level up’ will be ‘just a slogan unless […]
Speech
Characteristics of children entering care for the first time as teenagers
Last year, research from my office showed that even before the pandemic, there were 120,000 highly vulnerable children in England who were falling through the gaps in education and social care. This group of children – equivalent to 1 in 25 13-17 year olds – all had significant additional needs and vulnerabilities but were not […]
Spend over £25,000: 2020 – 2021
We publish details of all spending over £25,000 on a quarterly basis. 1 April 2020 – 30 June 2020 Nil 1 July 2020 – 30 September 2020 Transaction date Merchant name Transaction amount Entity Details 14/08/2020 National Audit Office £33,600.00 OCC External Audit Services 1 October 2020 – 31 December 2020 Nil 1 January 2021 […]
Still not safe
The public health response to youth violence
