Knowledge & Resource Hub

Since becoming Children’s Commissioner nearly four years ago, I’ve made it my mission to listen to young people in some of the most challenging circumstances, facing the most uncertain futures.   Children living in secure settings are at the sharpest end of this definition. Their numbers are small, with around 400 at any one time located […]

The Big Conversation: In conversation with the Children’s Commissioner and her youth Ambassadors is my podcast series where I share the voices and views of England’s children.  The podcast draws on the themes in The Big Ambition and will focus on the most important issues that are impacting young people’s lives, with solutions developed with […]

The Children’s Commissioner welcomes the opportunity to submit written evidence to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill Committee. This evidence builds on oral evidence provided by the Children’s Commissioner on 21 January, on a wider briefing on the Bill that was provided to the Committee and published on the Children’s Commissioner’s website, and on prior […]

The Children’s Commissioner wants England to be the best place for children to grow up. Every child should be safe, healthy and happy – and not live in fear. However currently in England, children are the only people who are not fully protected in law from assault and battery. The ‘reasonable punishment’ defence in common […]

The Big Conversation: In conversation with the Children’s Commissioner and her youth Ambassadors is my podcast series where I share the voices and views of England’s children.  The podcast draws on the themes in The Big Ambition and will focus on the most important issues that are impacting young people’s lives, with solutions developed with […]

Last July, the country was rocked by the murders of three little girls in Southport. Bebe King, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Elsie Dot Stancombe who were killed while taking part in a dance class during their summer holiday; a scene of simple childhood innocence destroyed by terrifying violence. The initial response from the community […]

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is urgent. The death of Sara Sharif and the recent resurfacing of the crimes by grooming gangs have further highlighted that too many services children rely on are failing – whether that is children missing out on the benefits of school and education, or children living in social care […]

In my four years as Children’s Commissioner for England, I have heard from more than a million children about their hopes and ambitions, and what they want from the adults making decisions in their lives. Crucially, regardless of their circumstances or backgrounds, children want their voices listened to on how to tackle key issues facing […]

The Big Conversation: In conversation with the Children’s Commissioner and her youth Ambassadors is my podcast series where I share the voices and views of England’s children.  The podcast draws on the themes in The Big Ambition and will focus on the most important issues that are impacting young people’s lives, with solutions developed with […]

Every night across England hundreds of children are going to sleep in illegal homes where they are often isolated and left without appropriate care. Most of these are run by private organisations which have the least amount of oversight and scrutiny, leaving children at an increased risk of harm. There is no process for checking […]

This report contains new findings on the deaths of children in need. ‘Child in need’ is an umbrella term including looked after children, children on a child protection plan, and children on a child in need plan. This report examines the characteristics of children and young people who die having had social care involvement, and […]

The Children’s Commissioner’s Care Experienced Advisory Board have created a hierarchy of needs based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It is a visual guide to help professionals working with care experienced young people understand their needs and support them. The different levels of the pyramid consider the basic requirements that care experienced young people need […]