World Children’s Day: Letter to children from Minister for Children and Families
To mark World Children’s Day, Minister for Children and Families Will Quince wrote to the children of England and we are pleased he recognised the findings of The Big Ask. We publish the letter here. Dear all children and young people in England, I write this letter to you as the Minister for Children and […]
GPC spend over £500: 2021 – 2022
We publish details of all spending over £500 using a government procurement card (GPC) on a quarterly basis. 1 April 2021 – 30 June 2021 Transaction date Transaction amount Entity Details 17/06/2021 £804.89 OCC Specialist web hosting for our vulnerability app 1 July 2021 – 30 September 2021 Transaction date Transaction amount Entity Details 01/07/2021 […]
Anti-Bullying Week and The Big Ask
Today marks the beginning of Anti-Bullying Week in England and Wales. Our largest-ever survey of children The Big Ask showed us how deeply this generation of children care about issues of equality and fair treatment in their friendships, and within their communities. In our survey, 1 in 5 children selected ‘everyone being treated fairly’ as […]
Guide to COP26 for children and slides for schools
A guide for children and slides for schools sharing what COP26 is and what children told us in The Big Ask survey about climate change and the environment.
The Big Ask: The environment and COP26
Tens of thousands of politicians, journalists, activists and industry representatives have descended upon Glasgow this week, as the city plays host to COP26. Otherwise known as the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26 is the biggest climate change event since the 2015 Paris Agreement. Countries will set out what they intend to do to […]
Help at Hand: The issues facing care leavers this year
National Care Leavers’ Week is a time to reflect on how we can ensure that every young person who leaves care has the support they need to fulfil their potential. Responses to The Big Ask have shown that children with care experience have the same ambitions as all young people. The difference is they cannot […]
The Big Ask and the Autumn Budget and Spending Review
In all our work with young people and policy-makers this year, this Autumn Budget and Spending Review has felt critical – a major opportunity to make meaningful commitments which put children at the heart of the recovery from the pandemic. In that light, it is heartening to be able to welcome a number of announcements […]
The Big Ask: Children in care and care leavers
This National Care Leavers Week, we want to take the opportunity to say thank you to the thousands of children in care who answered our Big Ask survey, and told us about their hopes and fears for the future. We are extremely proud that the Big Ask had an unprecedented response from children in care […]
The Big Ask: Education
The Covid pandemic has ushered in a new appreciation of the role of schools in our society and a recognition of the fantastic work teachers have done. During lockdown, they rallied to help families in need, to provide quality remote education and to support the wellbeing of their pupils. Parents grappled with the task of […]
Conversations with care leavers: the importance of trusting relationships
Next week is National Care Leavers Week, a vital time for us to focus on care leavers, and how we support them in transitioning from care into adult life. Next week I’ll be focusing on this, and my team’s work to bring about these changes. Ahead of that, I wanted to focus on what we […]
Evidence
Over half a million children responded to The Big Ask survey. The Big Answer report shares their responses and our answer. Here we share supporting evidence.
The Big Ask: Family
This year, the Children’s Commissioner’s Office conducted the largest ever survey of children in England. A record-breaking half a million responded – the voice of a generation. The ‘Big Answer’, published this September, is our first response to this outpouring of children’s voices as we emerge from the Covid pandemic. We were overwhelmed by the […]
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
