Ban the use of unregulated accommodation for under 18s in care
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, is calling for the Government to change the law to stop councils placing under 18s in care in unregulated accommodation. The change would see all children in care who need a residential placement housed in accommodation regulated under the same standards as children’s homes, and would put an end […]
Accessibility
This accessibility statement applies to the Children’s Commissioner for England’s website at www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk This website is run by the Children’s Commissioner’s office. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to: We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible […]
Protecting children’s digital privacy with the Age Appropriate Design Code
Today is the day that the Age Appropriate Design Code comes into force, marking an enormous step forward for children’s digital rights. The Code consists of 15 standards which online platforms will be required to meet in order to protect the data and privacy of under 18s. Platforms failing to do so will more than […]
Back to school after lockdown
The coming weeks will be an exciting time for millions of children in England. It’s almost six months since most children were in school, and many children will be glad to be with their friends again, though perhaps nervous about what it will be like to be back. For some time children have watched the […]
Supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities to return to school
As we approach the start of term, with teachers preparing their classrooms with new social distancing guidelines and families sorting out new shoes and uniforms, many children with special educational needs will be excited to be joining their friends back in the classroom. I visited a school this week that had really carefully thought about […]
Going back to school guide
A guide for children to tell them some of the changes they might see when they go back to school this September as well as providing tips on how to cope if they’re feeling worried or nervous and helpful resources to stay safe.
How lockdown has affected children’s lives at home
Since schools closed to all but a few students in March, millions of children have had to stay at home. While schools started to open in the weeks leading up to the summer holidays, many children did not return to school and will not until September. Given this unprecedented interruption to learning for many children, […]
No way out
Last year, our report Bleak Houses found that there were around 210,000 homeless children in England. This included 120,000 children being housed by their council in temporary accommodation. Temporary accommodation comes in many forms, but unfortunately it is often very poor quality. My team spoke to families living in homes that were cramped, noisy and […]
Children’s Commissioner warns 420,000 children in England are at risk of eviction unless Government acts
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, is today warning that hundreds of thousands of children will return to school in two weeks with the threat of housing eviction hanging over their families, unless the Government changes its mind and extends its ban on evictions. Her intervention comes as the Children’s Commissioner’s Office publishes a new […]
Response from Universities UK to the UK’s four Children’s Commissioners regarding A Level results
Response from Universities UK to the UK’s four Children’s Commissioners regarding A Level results
Children without internet access during lockdown
An estimated 9% of families in the UK do not have a laptop, desktop or tablet at home. This digital divide is not new, but during the Covid-19 crisis its implications have been particularly stark. A good quality device (or more than one) and reliable internet connection have made all the difference for many children, […]
Statement from Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield on this year’s GCSE results
It is clear now that the algorithm used by Ofqual to determine this year’s ‘A’ level and GCSE results is irredeemably flawed. It is not in children’s interests for weeks of appeals and arguments among adults to continue. Nor is it in the interest of schools, which should be focusing on their final preparations for […]
Statement
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