|
Dear colleagues,
Welcome to the 7th edition of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s (OCC) e-newsletter. To keep you informed of what we are up to, this edition focuses on our recently published Business Plan 2011-12. The Plan was developed in the spirit of the recommendations made in Dr John Dunford’s review
of our organisation. It centres on our renewed efforts to promote and protect children and young people’s rights in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Along with others in our society, we were deeply concerned with the recent social unrest that took place in many cities across the country in August. In light of this, we have looked again at our work programme for the coming year to begin to really understand more about who was involved, and why people, including children, carried out these acts. Violence, rioting and destruction can never be justified or condoned. There can be no doubt that there are complex issues which we need to unpick. Read my full statement
on the social unrest here and my recent comments in The Guardian.
We are already delivering the projects in our new Business Plan. In July we launched our School Exclusions Inquiry, which is the first Children’s Commissioner's Inquiry to be conducted under the powers given to us in the Children Act 2004. Our second Inquiry will be launched in October, where we will investigate child sexual exploitation, victimisation and abuse (CSEVA). For both Inquires, we will examine any links between our emerging findings and the issues raised concerning the actions of some young people during the recent disturbances.
In this e-newsletter, there are lots of updates on other major projects we are undertaking this year, including - identifying earlier routes to safety for vulnerable children in need; examining ways to improve children’s experiences and use of complaint procedures and monitoring the progress of the Coalition Government’s plan to end the detention of children for immigration purposes.
In July the Government launched a public consultation on its proposals for a new Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England and we will also contribute to this. Do have your say too before 29th September.
We continue to work in partnership with children and young people listening to their views and experiences so that we can influence policy and decision-makers. Some recent examples are highlighted here, including the plans of our young advisory group, Amplify; our report on the emotional wellbeing and mental health of young people in the youth justice system “I think I must have been born bad”,
my interview with two young people from The Children’s Society’s Reaching Out Project and when I met Sally from the charity Voice, who presented me with children’s messages in a bottle for our research on children and young people’s views of the child protection system.
Do also take this opportunity to read our Annual Report 2010-11, which highlights our significant impact and contributions to achieving real change for children.
With best wishes
Maggie Atkinson
Children’s Commissioner for England |
