Children’s services in parts of England in ‘state of emergency’, commissioner says

England’s children’s commissioner, Rachel de Souza, said services in some local authorities were in a “state of emergency”. She said individual failures and wider systemic problems meant some children could not reasonably be expected to thrive.

Her analysis covered more than 160 measures, including child poverty, education outcomes, community safety, NHS waiting times and access to playgrounds.

Middlesbrough, Hounslow, Bradford, Nottingham, Halton, Peterborough, Leicester, Liverpool, Sunderland and Medway were identified as the hardest places in England in which to grow up.

Areas with the strongest indicators

The report named Cheshire East, Merton, Surrey, Richmond upon Thames, Hertfordshire, Cheshire West and Chester, Haringey, Leicestershire, Central Bedfordshire and Wokingham as the least challenging places for children.

The report, titled The Childhood Lottery, described a north-south divide: authorities in southern England were more likely to score higher across the measures, while those in the north tended to score lower. The Midlands fell between the two.

De Souza said visits to schools, youth clubs and young offender institutions had exposed conditions that “utterly disgusted” her. In Middlesbrough, she said, a 14-year-old girl had told her crime statistics for the area.

The commissioner urged the government to set minimum standards for education, policing, health and youth services and create a national fund for areas that failed to meet them. She also proposed a deputy mayor for children in every strategic authority.

The Department for Education said it was improving childcare support and school standards while giving local leaders more power over education.