Children’s commissioner launches ‘once-in-a-generation’ review of childhood

Dame Rachel De Souza has today (16 March) launched the Childhood Commission - “a once-in-a-generation” review of the future of childhood inspired by William Beveridge’s 1942 report which laid the foundations of the post-war social security system.

• Related news: De Souza embarks on children’s commissioner role vowing to 'listen to sector'

• Opinion: Longfield has set high bar for commissioners

The Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s project aims to “identify the barriers preventing children from reaching their full potential, propose policy and services solutions and develop targets by which improvements can be monitored”.

It will be driven by the “Big Ask” - the largest consultation of Britain’s children ever undertaken. It will target all children through children’s charities and the Oak National Academy as well as reaching those in children’s homes, children’s mental health units and the youth custody estate after the Easter holidays.

“Our response to the trauma of the Second World War was to create a blueprint for a social service system and a National Health Service that improved our lives. We have the chance to do the same again now for children,” De Souza said.

The commissioner has vowed to ask children “how the pandemic changed their lives for better or worse” but will also dig deeper to “address the policy shortfalls that have held back the lives of many children for decades”.

Most children will be able to take part in the call for evidence online, however, “harder to reach groups” will be asked to take part in face-to-face interviews and focus groups, the commissioner's office said.

“We want to hear from children from every background about their hopes and ambitions for the future, and to hear what is holding them back. Their views and experiences and ideas will help shape the way we deliver better outcomes not just for them, but for all our children in the decade ahead,” De Souza added.

The new Childhood Commission will look at ways in which society and political structures often short-change children including those related to mental health and wellbeing, child poverty and education and will lobby government over the need to put “the prospects and welfare of children at the heart of the economy”.

It will also re-cast Beveridge’s ‘five giants’ identified after the Second World War - want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness - for children today.

The children’s commissioner will publish an interim report before the summer, setting out children’s expectations and aspirations, and the barriers to reaching them, based on the results of the consultation, an evidence review and data analysis. 

A subsequent report will propose solutions, investment, metrics, and set out the challenge to society to pay back to this generation of children and re-set their future.

De Souza said: “I want the Childhood Commission to have the spirit and the ambition of the Beveridge Report – something that leads to long term changes that improve the chances of every single child, whatever their early standing in life and wherever they are in England.

“My ambition is for the Childhood Review to not just reveal the barriers that are holding children back, but also to help government and others to provide policy solutions. It will also set out metrics and targets I will be using to hold them to account.

“I want to see childhood right at the top of the government agenda. That means every speech from the Prime Minister and Chancellor mentioning children, and every government department constantly pushing to improve the lives of children.”

Children’s charities, and social care and education leaders have welcomed the launch of the review.

Dr Jo Casebourne, chief executive of the Early Intervention Foundation, said: “This generation of children should not have to live with the knock-on effects of the pandemic for the rest of their lives. Long-term investment in early intervention is crucial – if we do not invest now, the outcomes for the most vulnerable children will be much worse in the long-term. The Childhood Review will be an important part of ensuring we give greater priority to children in public services going forward.”

Judith Blake, chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, added: “The pandemic has had an enormous impact on children and their families, and we are keen for them to be at the centre of both local and national recovery efforts. This report, which puts children’s voices at its heart, will be a valuable way of helping to deliver places and policies that really work for children.”

Mark Russell, chief executive of The Children’s Society, said: “We look forward to the commissioner’s recommendations to rebuild childhood after the pandemic. The scale of the challenge is huge and we need to be big and bold. Ultimately, it’s up to the government to deliver change through an ambitious agenda for children and young people and we hope their intention for putting children’s wellbeing first as we emerge from the Covid crisis are not just warm words but lead to tangible action.” ​