Knowledge & Resource Hub

Recently, my office published The Children’s Plan: The Children’s Commissioner’s School Census. For the first time, I used my data powers on schools, conducting a census to better understand how leaders and staff are supporting the children in our school system in ways far beyond teaching.  For most children in England, education reforms have transformed […]

It is often said that the best judgement of a civilised society comes by looking at how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. If that is the case – and as Children’s Commissioner it is a guiding principle – then this report offers a stark warning to society.  Time and time again, we see cases […]

Since becoming the Children’s Commissioner, I have travelled across the country meeting children whose lives are shaped by decisions made far away from them and those whose voices are rarely heard. Time and time again, I have witnessed children being held on custodial remand, not because they pose the greatest risk, but because the system […]

As Children’s Commissioner, I have a special responsibility to children living in care or away from home. That is not just a responsibility defined by legislation, but one that I feel personally. It was a big part of my motivation for taking on this role nearly five years ago, after a 30-year career as a […]

The Children’s Commissioner’s role is to promote and protect the rights of children, including by advising on legislation which affects children. She has a particular duty towards those children with a social worker, in care, or living away from home – including those in mental health inpatient settings. Her advocacy services, Help at Hand, regularly […]

As Children’s Commissioner I have the privilege of speaking to and working with thousands of professionals supporting children in every aspect of their lives. I know first-hand how caring and dedicated the vast majority of them are, and how the relationships they build with children can be transformative.   But I have also seen the other […]

Read The Children’s Plan: The Children’s Commissioner’s School Census in full. Read the Summary version. For the first time as Children’s Commissioner, I have used my statutory powers to ask all schools, and colleges, a set of questions. A census in response to what children told me they wanted and needed to attend, engage, attain, […]

This report is among the most sobering my office has ever published. It paints a stark picture of what childhood looks like in 2025 with an online world that is, in many ways, completely unfit for children. As Children’s Commissioner, I have heard from a million children, parents and carers. Without fail, they all tell […]

This report should not have to exist. Shining a light on children’s experiences of poverty in 2025, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, should not be necessary. And yet, the findings in this work highlight real hardship; an almost-Dickensian level of poverty facing some children in England today. After four years as […]

As Children’s Commissioner I strongly believe that every child has the right to an excellent education no matter who they are or where they live. Young people have also told me how important a good education is to them. Over the last four years I have heard from a million children through my surveys, The […]

As Children’s Commissioner, it is my job to make sure we never lose sight of the biggest challenges affecting children – mental health is one of the most significant. Each year, I publish this report to shine a spotlight on the state of children’s mental health services in England.   This is the fourth report of […]

As Children’s Commissioner, it is my greatest privilege to listen to children and to amplify their voices on the issues that matter most to them — both those that affect them directly, and those that may appear, at first glance, to lie beyond their immediate experience. At the heart of my role, as defined in […]