The Mental Health Bill: Briefing for Report stage
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 […]
Children’s mental health services 2022-23
Since I came into post in 2021, I have spoken to a million children and young people across the country. The vast majority of children are happy, and feel supported by their family, school and wider community. However, there is a growing group of children who are struggling with their mental health. This generation of […]
Health
Health is a core pillar of my work following ‘The Big Ask’. The majority of children aged 9 to 17 (80%) told me they were happy or okay with their mental health. But 20% of children were unhappy, making it a top issue for children today. This figure is also higher amongst older teenage girls. […]
The criminalisation of children in care
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 […]
“Guilty until Proven Innocent”: Children’s Commissioner delivers 2025 Longford Lecture
The Longford Lectures, hosted by the Longford Trust since 2002, are held each November reflecting on prison policy and the need for broader social reform. Previous lectures have been given by well-known figures, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Mary McAleese of Ireland, and Cherie Blair. On Tuesday 11th November, the Children’s Commissioner delivered the 2025 […]
Press Notice: Failing services mean custody being used as a ‘waiting room’ for innocent children, Children’s Commissioner warns
Hundreds of children are left in a ‘waiting room’ limbo each year, being unnecessarily locked up in custody while awaiting trial or sentencing – not because they pose the greatest risk, but because the systems designed to support them are failing, the Children’s Commissioner has warned. Research on the use of custodial remand for children […]
The Big Conversation: Period Poverty, reflections from a Youth Ambassador
As Children’s Commissioner hearing from children directly about issues they care about is one of the biggest privileges of my role. In today’s increasingly connected world, issues facing children in England are often those that impact children globally – and discussing those issues with children both here and abroad is an important part of my […]
Research with children to inform the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy
Research with children to inform the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy On 17 July 2024, the Prime Minister announced the creation of a new Ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce to devise a Child Poverty Strategy. This taskforce is supported by the Child Poverty Unit in the Cabinet Office. The Strategy will address systemic drivers of poverty, including […]
National Care Leavers Week: In Their Own Words
This week is National Care Leavers Week, with the theme ‘All of Us, We are One.’ It’s been a week of celebrating care experienced young people through events across the country, the lighting up of municipal buildings on Thursday 31st October and #NCLW adverts on Channel 4. To mark the culmination of this important week […]
Celebrating 100 Voices for 100 Days, and continuing The Big Conversation
“The government need to listen to children more, as it’s our future and the world that we have to live in,” girl, 11, The Big Ambition Back in July, following the general election, I launched my 100 Voices Campaign for the first 100 Days of the new government. Every day I shared a child’s […]
Strip searching of children in England and Wales: First complete dataset for 2018–2023, including new data July 2022-June 2023
In light of the shocking case of Child Q, a 15-year-old Black girl who was strip searched while at school in Hackney nearly four years ago, I wanted to use my statutory powers as Children’s Commissioner to investigate the practice of strip searching children by the police. Child Q’s case was so extreme that I […]
The Big Ambition for Online Safety: Reflections from my Ambassadors
As Children’s Commissioner, children tell me about how their experiences of the online world impact their lives. They want to take advantage of all the positive opportunities that the online world offers them, with the chance to socialise, learn and play in online spaces. The Big Ambition results revealed children do not see a difference […]
Archived Content
Finding out more about children in England detained in the secure estate
At any given time, there are well over a thousand children in England detained in secure care under the Children’s Act, the Mental Health Act or in the youth justice system. These are some of the most vulnerable young people in the country. Around a third of them are being detained for their own welfare or […]
Growing Up Digital one year on
The internet and social media are a permanent part of modern childhood and for most children they offer huge opportunities to learn and connect. Today’s ‘Safer Internet Day’ brings schools, parents, teachers and industry together to make sure children have the power, information and resilience they need to make safe and informed choices online. The […]
Shining a light on the experiences of children excluded from schools and in alternative provision
My ‘Children’s Voices’ report looks at findings from an evidence review of the views, perspectives and experiences of children who have been or at risk of being excluded from school and children in alternative provision.
Childhood vulnerability in England 2017
Note: This report is from 2017, there is a more recent vulnerability report from 2019. New analysis from the Children’s Commissioner for England reveals, for the first time, the scale of vulnerability among children in England. These reports bring together a range of information held by various government departments, agencies and others. Its initial analysis reveals […]
Vital role of school nurses threatened as paperwork eats into time with children
School nurses spend twice as much time on paperwork than on direct work with children in schools.
Anne Longfield responds to Ofsted’s ‘Unknown children – destined for disadvantage?’ report
It is essential to identify the needs of disadvantaged children in the first few years of life, co-ordinate health, education and family support and measure progress as children enter school.
Only 1 in 8 children who are sexually abused are identified by professionals
The Children’s Commissioner calls for urgent action to improve the prevention and early identification of child sex abuse and the support provided for victims.
Guest Blog from Dawn Rees, Principal Policy Adviser: Future in Mind
The Mental Health Task Force set out a strong health-economics platform for improving the emotional health and wellbeing of children – 75% of adult mental health problems start by the age of 18.