Children's Commissioner says young people fear media access to family courts

Speaking exclusively to CYP Now, Maggie Atkinson, former director of children's services in Gateshead, explained that children and young people were concerned about being identified under the more transparent set-up.

"We talked to some of the children and young people who were subject to those proceedings and got very strong feedback that they are very nervous indeed about even anonymised access by the media," she said. "We fed back to government and the signals are that there is some thinking going on about the potential to make it more safeguarded or to rethink it altogether."

She added that children from small communities had voiced particular concerns.

"If you are a child in a village where there are only 25 children and four of them are in your family, and you are the only four in front of a judge in care proceedings, your village will know who you are, however anonymous," she said.

Atkinson, who took up the role of commissioner last week, explained that talking to children and young people as often as possible would be one of her top priorities.

"We have a target in our forthcoming business plan, about which we consulted children and young people, to raise the number of children and young people with whom either me or my team have direct contact  to at least 50,000 in this first year," she said. "That's a really strong commitment and pledge."

Another important priority would be speaking out on behalf of children living in poverty, children in the youth justice system, asylum-seeking children and those with health problems and disabilities, she said.