Inpatient mental health wards during Covid-19
Focusing on the experiences of children living in mental health wards and how Covid-19 and lockdown has affected their hospital experience
CHLDRN feedback
We’d love to hear how you’re finding the CHLDRN app, and any suggestions and feedback that you may have to make it better in the future.
Governments have a duty to work together to prevent asylum seeking children from risking their lives
This summer hundreds of children risked their lives embarking on highly dangerous journeys from France to the UK by boat. After Covid-19 struck in March, child refugees abroad saw their already desperate living conditions deteriorate as support and aid fell away. In Calais, evictions and the dismantling of camps left children without shelter and basic […]
Lifting children out of poverty and eliminating child hunger is a moral imperative
Today MPs from across the political divide will support a Ten Minute Rule Bill introduced by the MP Emma Lewell Buck. The School Breakfast Bill seeks to provide schools in disadvantaged areas with the support required to give a free, healthy school breakfast to children. It would build on the existing National School Breakfast Programme […]
Your voice
Every year, we speak to children all over England to gather their views on what is going well for them, what isn’t, what needs to change and how. What children tell us influences our work for the coming year. Read our latest business plan consultation. We currently don’t have an open Voices survey.
Government scientists respond with more answers from children’s coronavirus questions
During a virtual event on the 11th of August, 12 children from across the UK had the opportunity to ask their own Covid-19 related questions covering different topic areas, such as social bubbles, face masks and public transport, which were answered by three government scientists, Professor Brooke Rogers, Professor Charlotte Watts and Professor Russell Viner. […]
Amid the coronavirus uncertainty, millions of children are back in school
Now is a good time to reflect on the progress that has been made as children have returned to school after so many months out of the classroom. Schools, teachers and children themselves have worked so hard to adapt to a new normal, from one-way hallways to staggered drop-offs, from classroom bubbles to shorter lunch […]
How lockdown affected children’s stress and anxiety
Children’s lives changed beyond recognition when full lockdown began on 23rd March. With schools shut to the majority of pupils, the regular rhythms of childhood and adolescence – from school runs and playtime, to exams, celebrations and graduation – were put on indefinite hold. Anecdotally, we know that many children struggled with the demands of […]
Help at Hand spotlight: championing the rights of children in care under Covid-19
There are more than 75,000 children in care in England. Although most spent the national Covid-19 lockdown in a place of safety, this stretch of time was not without difficulty. Our ‘Childhood in the time of Covid’ report published on 29th September outlines the many new pressures on social care services during this unprecedented time […]
Childhood in the time of Covid
Six months have passed since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in this country and we entered an unprecedented lockdown. During this time, I have made it my Office’s mission to highlight the risks to children caused by the pandemic and the measures to contain it, particularly the most vulnerable, and push for their interests to […]
A comprehensive recovery package is needed to tackle rising tide of childhood vulnerability caused by the Covid crisis
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, has publishing a major new report examining the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on children. The report, ‘Childhood in the time of Covid’ calls for a comprehensive recovery package for children and provides a roadmap for what should be done to help children to recover from their experiences of […]
Stress among children in England during the coronavirus lockdown
A look at what children are worrying about both before, and during lockdown
Archived Content
New report suggests significant group of children are being denied advocacy despite having a statutory entitlement to it
This year marks the 30th anniversary of two significant breakthroughs in children’s rights legislation: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Children Act 1989. Central to both these documents was the idea that children’s wishes and feelings must be taken into account when making decisions that affect them. Thirty years […]
Advocacy for children
This report follows previous studies commissioned by us and other recent research into advocacy. This work builds on research by the Children’s Commissioner in 2016, which also explored the provision of advocacy across England and found substantial variation across local authorities, with spend per child or young person ranging from £2 to £668 each year. […]
Too many vulnerable young children are missing out on the vital speech and language help they need to get ready for school
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, is today (Tuesday) publishing a new report “We need to talk: Access to speech and language therapy“, which shines a light on spending on speech and language therapy services (SLT) for children across the country to help identify where children who need support are falling through the gaps. […]
Speech
We need to talk: Access to speech and language therapy
This report shines a light on spending on speech and language therapy services (SLT) for children across the country to help identify where children who need support are falling through the gaps. Previous research has shown that children with poor vocabulary skills are twice as likely to be unemployed when they grow up, and over […]
Complaints procedure
We aim to provide the highest standards of work and service and to resolve any concerns about us immediately. However, if we cannot do so and you wish to make a formal complaint, this procedure explains how to do so and how we will investigate and respond to it.
Explore the data
Latest data on the overall levels of vulnerability and need among children and young people in England
The first step in redressing the balance of power between children and the tech giants
This year marks two important anniversaries: it is thirty years since the creation of the World Wide Web, and of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The digital world and children’s rights should not be in opposition – indeed, the internet can be an extraordinary force for good in children’s lives. But […]
Many vulnerable children with learning disabilities are stuck in mental health hospitals for too long in poor conditions
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, is today publishing a new report, ‘Far less than they deserve: Children with learning disabilities or autism living in mental health hospitals’. The report shows how too many children are being admitted to secure hospitals unnecessarily – in some cases are spending months and years of their childhood […]
Far less than they deserve
Children with learning disabilities or autism living in mental health hospitals This report shows how too many children are being admitted to secure hospitals unnecessarily – in some cases are spending months and years of their childhood in institutions when they should be in their community. It warns that the current system of support for […]
The World Wide Web at 30: Re-imagining a web built for children
Between 9 – 10 May, the Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, hosted a conference on children’s digital rights at BBC Salford for ENOC – the network of Children’s Commissioners and Ombudsmen from all over Europe. Pupils from two local schools, Chorlton High School and Manchester Communication Academy, joined the conference for a session in […]
