Knowledge & Resource Hub

Looking to a new business year, I have been reflecting on children and young people’s lives over the last couple of years and thinking about everything they have told me since I have become Children’s Commissioner. When I started in role, the impact of Covid and children’s lives returning to normal was at the forefront […]

In May 2022 I welcomed a Government commission to conduct an Independent Review of family life. In doing so, I set out to demonstrate the immense and protective power of family life on our children and society. I found that families – no matter their size, shape or composition – are fundamental to society and […]

I conducted my first project on strip searching because I was shocked and appalled by what happened to Child Q in Hackney last year. I felt that I owed it to her to establish whether she was the only child this has happened to. She wasn’t. Those findings, published last August in relation to the […]

The previous briefing that the Children’s Commissioner’s office shared set out in detail the Children’s Commissioner’s main concerns about the Illegal Migration Bill. Ahead of the Committee Stage next week, this document provides an overview of the amendments and some clarifications that the Children’s Commissioner would like to see reflected in the Bill. The document […]

The Children’s Commissioner for England has a statutory duty to promote and protect the rights of children in England. This includes those children who have arrived in the country fleeing war and persecution, who are often the victims of trafficking and exploitation. The Illegal Migration Bill will have a profound impact on the rights of […]

When I became Children’s Commissioner, one of my first actions was to carry out The Big Ask survey. I wanted to understand, as we were emerging from the shadow of the pandemic, what children wanted for their futures, and what worries were holding them back. It was clear from the responses to that survey, as […]

The Department for Education (DfE) has today published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan (hereafter the Plan). The Plan sets out how DfE intends to deliver ‘a single national system that delivers consistently for every child and young person with SEND and in alternative provision’. The review of the […]

To support the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into children’s absence from school, This report summarises the key findings from my attendance audit.

This paper, the first in a series of research reports, makes clear the urgent need to protect children from the harms of online pornography. It is my duty as Children’s Commissioner to champion young people’s views and voices, and to ensure that all children enjoy the freedom to grow up safely and happily, both online […]

I want every child in care to have access to a stable home environment that is able to meet their needs and give them the love and care they need to thrive in every aspect of their life. They should be in familial environments that can provide them with care until they are at least […]

In undertaking my Independent Family Review, I’ve heard from families of all kinds about why family is so important. I wanted to understand why this what, and what we as policy makers could do in response. The importance – and power – of family life is no different for children in the care system, but […]

In April 2021 I launched The Big Ask as a national consultation exercise with children across England. I asked them about their lives, their priorities, their worries and their hopes for the future, and children wrote back. The Big Ask was live for 6 weeks and in that time, over 550,000 children completed the survey, […]