Business plan 2017-18
When I published Ambitious for Children on taking office in 2015, I set out my priorities for my term in office. These were to build the aspirations and resilience of children, particularly those with a less than easy start to life; and to shine a light on hidden issues affecting the vulnerable, in order to […]
Annual report 2006-07
This is our report on what we’ve done over the last year, and what we intend to achieve this year and beyond. Last year, I said we would identify our priorities – and we have. We knew we needed a clear focus to improve the lives of 11 million children and young people. We’ve asked […]
Annual report 2007-08
At our Summer event, children and young people chose Violence, Abuse and Bullying as the theme they wanted us to work on in 2008/09. We spent a lot of time visiting children and young people’s groups across England, documenting what they had to say in young offender institutes, health services and schools to name but […]
Annual report 2008-09
Many significant improvements in children and young people’s lives have come to fruition during 2008-09; and I am proud to say 11 MILLION has again played a key role in bringing them about. This, my annual report and financial statements for 2008-09, gives you an overview of our major successes in this financial year and […]
Annual report 2009-10
I am delighted to introduce my Annual Report for 2009-10, which includes a flavour of our achievements during the year and information about how we used our resources. As a new Commissioner, in post since 1 March, and therefore here for only the final month of the period the report covers, I am pleased to […]
Annual report 2010-11
Annual report 2011-12
I am delighted to join Nick to introduce this Annual Report. The Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) promotes and protects children’s rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) ratified by the UK in 1991. Our energies focus especially on both policy and practice where children’s rights are ignored […]
Annual report 2012-13
At the core of our work is the promotion and protection of children’s rights, under both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) ratified by the UK in 1991, and UK and international laws and conventions where children’s lives are affected for good or ill. We do that vital work for […]
Annual report 2013-14
As you read this report, my staff at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) and I are three months into fulfilling my reformed remit. On 1 April, following the passing of the Children and Families Act 2014, my role was strengthened. As a result, my primary statutory function is now to promote and protect […]
Lockdown experiences: Members from Cambs Youth Panel who are helping to get more children digitally connected
We spoke to eight young people from the Cambs Youth Panel about their experiences of being in lockdown. The group has been raising money to set up a distribution scheme for Raspberry Pi boxes so more children are connected digitally and are able to progress in their education. Arun, 14, said: “Many children can’t access […]
Annual report 2014-15
This Annual Report covers the Children’s Commissioner’s year to the end of March 2015. For all but one month of that time, my predecessor Maggie Atkinson was Children’s Commissioner for England and I would like to record my thanks to her and the team who supported her for much of the work detailed herein. Bringing […]
Annual report 2015-16
All children should have the right to the best start in life with the love, security and opportunities they need to grow and flourish. Most of the 11.5 million children growing up in England have just those overwhelmingly positive opportunities. For them, England is a great place to grow up. However, there is no room […]
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