Children and Families Act: Children's commissioner

What is happening?

Under the legislative changes, the role of children's commissioner for England has been strengthened. The changes include:

Who does it affect?

Primarily, the Office of the Children's commissioner, which will largely determine how its remit will affect the way it works, but ultimately, all children and young people.

Implications for practice

Paola Uccellari, director at the Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) says the position will have greater independence from government.

"Previously, the commissioner was required to consult the Education Secretary before carrying out an inquiry into what is happening to children on the ground. But now the role will be more independent of government, which is crucial, because the commissioner is supposed to hold the state to account for its impact on children's human rights. It can't do that if there is a lack of independence from government," she says.

"We really welcome the strong new powers that the commissioner will have under this legislation to protect children's human rights.

"The current children's commissioner has already started to take a more rights-based approach to her work, but in future the way the commissioner's office uses the new powers will depend on who takes over as the next commissioner - it will be down to how the individual uses the power they have."

Unresolved issues

Uccellari says her organisation campaigned for a number of changes that did not appear in the final legislation. Crae wanted the commissioner to be granted powers to take action under the Human Rights Act if they believe children's rights are being breached.

Currently, only victims, rather than a third party, can bring a case, but Uccellari points to the fact that children are less likely to be in a position to challenge the state in this way than adults.

Crae also wants greater involvement of parliament in the selection of the children's commissioner. Currently, the Education Secretary has the final say over the appointment.

This prompted controversy in 2009, when the then Children's Secretary Ed Balls appointed the current commissioner Maggie Atkinson to the role despite opposition from the children, schools and family select committee.

"The government has made the commitment that parliament would be involved in the selection, but we wanted to see that on the face of the bill," Uccellari says.