"Children are bewildered, angry and resentful at being disenfranchised because of the behaviour of a small minority," he states.
It is just one of an ever growing list of issues that children and young people have written, emailed or spoken about to England's new children's commissioner since his appointment in March. "Please can you stop the birds from messing on my dad's car," says one letter. But others raise issues ranging from safety and security and the state of school buildings to cases of children facing deportation.
"The range of issues is extraordinary, but the thing that children raise most often is bullying," says Aynsley-Green, who is due to take up his post officially on Friday (1 July).
He is acutely conscious of the huge weight of expectation accompanying his appointment, not that it puts him off. He has been here before, in his previous job as head of the taskforce that put together the NHS national service framework for children. "When it was first announced, people thought that all their problems would be resolved," he recalls. "I have to ask people for understanding," he adds. "I have a 3m-a-year budget to serve the needs of 11.8 million children and young people in England." That works out at around 25p per child per year. By contrast, the Scottish commissioner's funding works out at just under 1 a year, while Peter Clarke, the commissioner for Wales, can spend just over 1.80 per child.
"I can't hope to satisfy every expectation," says Aynsley-Green. "So when I declare what my priorities are going to be, I hope that people will understand."
It also means that he will have to draw on the help of others. "I want to explore how I can work with others to extend our capacity," says Aynsley-Green, citing discussions he has been having with the Children's Legal Centre and the National Children's Bureau to develop a methodology for joint scrutiny of proposed legislation. "Take, for example, the proposed extended pub licencing hours. What could it mean for domestic violence, or youth binge drinking?"
But he is also aware that he would be walking a tightrope. "The keyword of this commission is inde-pendence." The same goes for his relationship with government. "I will be the first to celebrate what the Government is doing that is right for children - and there is much to be pleased about. But I will also challenge it for what it is not doing, or that it is doing wrong," he says.
This seems a good time to mention the doubts that many in the sector have that the way the commissioner's job has been framed will allow him to be much of a real challenge, particularly in the area of children's rights.
"I have to have regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - that is enshrined in the legislation," he says. "The key will be in how I interpret that. There will be a number of opportunities to raise children's rights, not least when the UN does its own scrutiny of how the UK is doing."
Inspired by past greatness
Although the commissioner for England does not have the statutory powers to really force the issue, Aynsley-Green is adamant that this by no means leaves him powerless.
He draws inspiration from the social reformers who set out to transform the brutal conditions in which many children found themselves in the Victorian era, from Dr Barnardo to Joseph Rowntree to Charles Dickens. "Their success was the result of collective power and effective advocacy, the clarity of their cause, an irrefutable argument, and public, political and professional support," he says.
In other words, he sees himself as a cheerleader for a broad movement, and a lens through which collective efforts can be focused on transforming the condition of children. Hard facts and evidence, rather than anecdote, will be crucial to constructing the irrefutable arguments that will be needed, he believes, and there will be a big role to play for academics and the research community.
He has also set about establishing a close working relationship with the children's commissioners for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"They were the first people I contacted when my appointment was announced and we have agreed to work together, to have regular summits, and we are drawing up memoranda of understanding about how we divide up our responsibility. There are UK-wide societal issues on which we may well issue joint reports, for example on immigration."
But the key to his effectiveness as commissioner, and the basis of his legitimacy, will be the close involvement of children and young people themselves. "My job is to ensure that the interests, views, needs and rights of children and young people are expressed, listened to and acted upon. The added value I can bring as commissioner is to make sure everybody knows what children and young people think about what is happening in their lives. I will hesitate to make any public statement until I have hard fact and know what children and young people have to say about it."
Participation, in other words, will be crucial. Aynsley-Green sees this as the single most important part of his work.
Among the key senior staff he will set about recruiting as soon as he takes office will be a director of communications and participation. He is also considering ways in which the commission will be able to have a regional presence in order to be more accessible to children.
"The web site will also be very important, because the internet and texting are now such important ways in which children and young people communicate.
Reaching out to all children
"I want every child to know within, say, two years, that there is such a thing as a children's commissioner who is speaking for their needs and rights and reflects their views, and also know how they can get in touch. And that includes the very hard-to-reach children. It will be a big challenge, but it would be an ideal performance indicator."
And even though it is not writ-ten into his job description, he is adamant that he wants to celebrate the achievements of children and young people, as well as raise a serious public debate - among policy makers, the media, professionals and the general public - about the value that society places on children and parenthood.
"As a society we care passionately about our own children, but do we really care about everybody else's? Who cares about the children at the margins of society, disabled children, children in care, and so on? We don't really value children and childhood and parenting, certainly compared to countries in southern Europe or Scandinavia, or the developing world.
"How can we hope to improve the lives of children if we don't understand these issues?"
BACKGROUND - CAREER HISTORY OF THE CHILDREN'S CHAMPION
- Appointed children's commissioner for England on 1 March
- National clinical director for children since 2001
- Nuffield Professor of child health at the Institute of Child Health, University College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust. He will be giving up both the national clinical director and the Nuffield Professor jobs when he takes up his new post on 1 July
- Prior to this, he was a clinical and university lecturer at the University of Oxford, Professor of child health and head of clinical medical sciences at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and has held a number of other posts in relation to child health and children's services
AN INVITATION, A CHALLENGE AND A PROMISE
Al Aynsley-Green is full of praise for professionals who work with children: "I have over the past few years made more than 400 visits to every conceivable setting, from hospitals to prisons to young people sleeping under the arches, and I have yet to meet somebody who is not passionate about improving the lot of children and young people. Thousands of children are being helped and families supported and we ought to celebrate that."
He reserves his criticism instead for top-level managers and those charged with governance and strategic decision-making. "There is a lack of understanding about what makes children's services different." Sir Ian Kennedy's inquiry report into the deaths of babies undergoing heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary showed, says Aynsley-Green, that senior managers perceived children as no more than "smaller adults needing smaller beds".
Aynsley-Green wants to challenge professionals and workers in the sector to "engage with the movers and shakers". "What are you doing to engage with politicians and chairs and chief executives to make sure they visit settings and understand what is different about children's services?" he asks.
The Children Act 2004 requires the commissioner to report to Parliament each year - the first is due next summer. "I intend to include not just the dry detail, but also my independent view of the state of the nation's children and young people. I would welcome professionals' views about my work," says Aynsley-Green.
"As commissioner I want to relate to the field in exactly the same way as I did when working on the national service framework. The best accolade I got when it was published was when people said 'Al, there's no surprises here'. My philosophy is to work with openness, transparency, honesty, partnership and participation."
