Huge regional variation in support from children’s social services for some of England’s most vulnerable children
Over 100,000 of England’s most vulnerable children who are on social service plans are getting a postcode lottery of support with huge regional variations dictating the level of protection they get, previously unseen data from the Children’s Commissioner has revealed. In worst case scenarios, these inconsistencies and lack of consistent early intervention can prevent children […]
New statistics show a huge increase in the number of children completely missing education
Almost 120,000 children of compulsory school age were recorded as missing education at some point in 2022/23 which is up by almost 25% from the year before, according to new statistics published today. The figures from the Department of Education also showed a surge in the number of children home educated in the same year. […]
Auditory Verbal therapy: supporting deaf children to thrive at school and beyond
Anita Grover, Chief Executive at Auditory Verbal UK Meet 11-year-old Louis from Cambridge. His parents were first told he had hearing loss at 18 months old. They wanted to do everything they could to ensure he had the same opportunities in life as hearing children. Keen for Louis to learn to listen and talk, they […]
The Big Ambition for Online roundtable: reflections from youth Ambassadors
As part of The Big Ambition, I co-hosted the latest roundtable with some of my recently appointed Ambassadors focusing on online safety. The roundtable brought together representatives from Google, Meta, TikTok, Ukie – the UK video games trade body – and X to discuss the theme: “What more could platforms do to keep children safe […]
Children’s Commissioner’s response to Ofcom’s ‘Protecting people from illegal harms online’
This is a written response by the Children’s Commissioner to Ofcom’s consultation, Protecting people from illegal harms online, on the draft codes of practice relating to illegal 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 children in […]
Lost in Transition: The destinations of children who leave the state education system
When I became Children’s Commissioner, one of the first things I did was to conduct a nationwide inquiry into the educational experiences of children leaving state education. These children had fallen off the radar during the pandemic. Local authorities confided that they did not know where they had gone or how to support them to […]
Lost in Transition, too many children falling through the cracks after leaving state education
When I became Children’s Commissioner, one of the first things I did was to conduct a nationwide inquiry into the educational experiences of children leaving state education. These children had fallen off the radar during the pandemic. Local authorities confided that they did not know where they had gone or how to support them to […]
The Big Ambition for Youth Work Roundtable, Ambassadors share their thoughts
Last week I co-hosted The Big Ambition for Youth Work Roundtable with my recently appointed Ambassadors, Aaliya, Emmanuel and Penelope. The roundtable brought together experts and leaders from across the youth sector to discuss the theme: “How could the next government make children’s lives better through youth work and positive activities?”. The roundtable stimulated so […]
Children value outside spaces to play in their local communities
The United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises ‘the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.’ Children tell me all the time about the importance of play […]
Apprenticeships are for everyone, a personal experience and advice from one of our Ambassadors
Rylie applied to become a Children’s Commissioner Ambassador because she wants to improve the education system so that it empowers future leaders and inspires and prepares young minds for success in the world of work. Join Rylie – a Children’s Commissioner Ambassador and Apprentice Build Manager at Willmott Dixon – on a journey into the […]
Supporting children’s mental health this Children’s Mental Health week
Dr Julia Clements, Principal Educational Psychologist, Place2Be This week is Children’s Mental Health Week, organised by leading charity Place2Be. The week, which was founded in 2015, aims to equip, empower and give a voice to children across the UK. Each year, Place2Be create resources and share advice to help schools and families to have important […]
Self-care: A care leavers journey
This week is Children’s Mental Health Week, this year’s theme is ‘My Voice Matters’. My Voice Matters is about empowering children and young people by providing them with the tools they need to express themselves. Today I am sharing a blog post written by a care leaver in my team. Benita wanted to share how […]
Archived Content
Gaming the system
The overwhelming majority of children (93 percent) in the UK play video games. Yet despite its popularity, the culture of ‘gaming’- its rules and its rituals, the varying profiles of players, the risks they face – tends to be spoken of by adults, whether they be policymakers or parents, as if it were an alien […]
The state of child poverty and how we can tackle it
On the United Nations Day for Poverty Eradication we should never fail to be shocked that we are talking about child poverty when are one of the wealthiest countries on earth. Yet as all of us here know, the number of children living in poverty has been steadily increasing in recent years. There are around […]
EU children 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 status is a special immigration category for EU nationals who have made Britain their home. Once you have settled status […]
Children’s Commissioner for England response to CQC report on the state of care
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, responding to the CQC annual report into the state of care
Almost one in five children left education at 18 last year without basic qualifications
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, has published research looking at the number of children who leave the education system at 18 without reaching Level 2 attainment (five GCSEs grade A* to C, or equivalent technical qualifications). These are children who will have spent 14 years in compulsory education, often having more than £100,000 of […]
Children’s manifesto calls on political parties to back six pledges to transform life chances for all kids
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, has published ‘Guess How Much We Love You: A Manifesto for Children’ ahead of any upcoming General Election.
A Manifesto for Children
The manifesto, published ahead of any upcoming General Election, calls on Britain’s political parties to include a six-point plan in their election manifestos to transform the life chances for disadvantaged children and to help all of England’s 12 million children to thrive. The manifesto sets out some of the key issues that children have told […]
Anne Longfield responds to Government Spending Review
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, responding to the Government’s Spending Review
Children’s experiences of online harm and what they want to do about it
In April this year the Government set out their plans for a world-first: a system of regulations that they argue will make the UK ‘the safest place in the world to be online’. The Online Harms White Paper, produced in collaboration between the Home Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), maps out […]
Bleak houses
Tackling the crisis of family homelessness in England