Rachel de Souza

Surveys

At the start of her tenure De Souza said that it is important to listen to what children have to say about the experience of lockdown.^[11] In her first month as Children's Commissioner, De Souza launched the Big Ask Survey of children.^[12][13]

In 2024, the Big Ambition survey found that 22% of children agreed that people who run the country listen to what they have to say.^[14]

De Souza launched an Attendance Audit in January 2022 to speak to children missing from and struggling to engage with education. She said that absence rates were "stuck at crisis levels" but argued "children aren’t absent because they don’t want to learn".^[15][16] De Souza then chaired the Greater Manchester Local Attendance Action Alliance.^[17]

Schools

De Souza published her Children’s Plan in London in 2025 alongside the Education Secretary.^[18] She argued that the census, which gathered data from nearly 90% of schools in England, painted a stark picture of schools filling gaps left by years of underfunding in health, social care, and local support services^[19]. In 2026 the Government announced it will create a new remit for the Children’s Commissioner to provide independent oversight and scrutiny of SEND reform.^[20]

Equal protection from assault

During an evidence session to the Education Select Committee before her appointment, at a time when numerous Children's Commissioners, including those for Wales and Scotland, had already committed to banning corporal punishment of children, de Souza was criticised for failing to do so.^[21] However, early into her role, having started on 1 March 2021, she said she was against violence of any form towards children, and in an article for the Times 20 April 2022 she said she was supportive of a ban being introduced in England.^[22][23] Following the murder of Sara Sharif, she reiterated her position, calling for the end of the "reasonable chastisement" clause that exists as a defence to assault against children in English law.^[24]

Online Safety

Ahead of the passage of the Online Safety Act, De Souza published analysis of a nationally representative survey of 8-17 year olds finding that nearly half had seen harmful content online. And called for the Online Safety Act to keep child safety ‘at its heart.’^[25]

Prior to the Government’s announcement of a social media ban, De Souza called for all online services - including gaming sites - that make use of harmful features and functionalities to be banned from accessing children under 18 until they can prove they are safe for children.^{[26] [27]}

Mental health and wellbeing

Since February 2022, de Souza has published an annual mental health briefing on children's experiences of mental health services.^[28] Her most recent report found the number of young people being referred for mental health treatment in England had risen to more than a million. She said she was ‘in no doubt we are facing a crisis’.^[29] De Souza has called for long-term strategies to address these issues, emphasising the need for early intervention.^[30]

Strip searching of children by police forces

The case of Child Q, a 15-year-old black girl who was strip-searched at school without an appropriate adult present, led de Souza to investigate the practice of strip-searching of children by police with her last showing that black children were more than eight times likely to be strip searched than their white peers.^[31]

Immigration and migrant children

As part of her role as Children's Commissioner, de Souza visits reception centres and processing sites including in Kent where migrants who illegally cross the Channel in small boats are temporarily held during processing. ^[32] In June 2026 she told the Home Secretary that her crackdown on refused asylum seekers, including the forcible removal of children from the UK will cause significant harm.^[33]