Children face extreme inequality in England, warns commissioner

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

Cheshire East, Merton, Surrey, Richmond upon Thames, Hertfordshire, Cheshire West and Chester, Haringey, Leicestershire, Central Bedfordshire and Wokingham were described as the “least challenging places to be a child”.

In some cases the difference in standard was stark.

It took six days for a child to be referred for mental health assessments in Leicester, and 118 days in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

In Richmond upon Thames, 70% of children got good grades in English and maths GCSE compared to 31% in Knowsley.

Just 6.7% of children in Bedford felt unsafe in their local area, compared to 24.9% of children in Croydon.

In four local council areas, spending on youth services per teenager was zero.

86% of Redcar and Cleveland’s children saw a dentist in the last year compared to 39% in Hackney, which was among 25 areas where fewer than half of children saw a dentist.

General poverty was not always to blame for poor children’s services, the report found, external.

Haringey in North London scored highly in an assessment of its services for children, despite having high levels of deprivation. Conversely Cambridge was ranked lower, even though it was one of the least deprived areas in England.

“There is a poverty issue, but there are also service issues, and capacity issues,” Dame Rachel told the BBC.

“What I want to see is rocket-boosted support for these places,” she added.

Dame Rachel recommended there should be a minimum set of standards for the way children were affected by levels of education, policing, health, and youth services.

“Strategic authorities”, which include areas with mayors, and larger local councils, should be required to have a deputy mayor for children with responsibility for testing every policy to assess its impact, she said.

A children’s emergency fund should be set up to pay for improvements in services, she added.

In a separate article for the Times, external on Monday, the prime minister promised more investment in “the success of our young people” and said the government could no longer support their “failure through the benefits system.”

The Department for Education said it’s working to improve childcare support and school standards, and is giving more power to “local leaders” to shape the future of their education.

“We’re investing and reforming at every stage of a child’s journey, from more childcare support for their earliest years and higher standards in our schools, broader community support with the rollover of our National Youth strategy and Young Future hubs, to more training and job opportunities as they approach adulthood,” it said in a statement.

The government said it is opening 1,000 Best Start Family Hubs in England, which offers joined-up support for parents and children, including health, education and advice services.

The Local Government Association said the government needs to make sure public services have the right resources and “powers at the right levels” to deliver better outcomes for children across the country.