Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza released a report titled "The Childhood Lottery," which describes a "postcode lottery" in the quality of services available to children across the country. The report, which analyzed 100 metrics including health, education, and safety, concluded that the current state of youth services constitutes a "national emergency" due to geographic inequalities.
The findings follow previous reports from 2024 and 2025 regarding council funding crises and poverty levels. In the new analysis, de Souza found that deprivation levels do not always correlate with the quality of children's outcomes. For example, Haringey in North London scored highly despite high deprivation, while Cambridge ranked lower despite being one of the least deprived areas in the country.
Data in the report highlighted significant disparities in access to care and academic success. In Leicester, mental health referrals took six days, while the same process took 118 days in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. GCSE achievement in English and maths reached 70% in Richmond upon Thames but dropped to 31% in Knowsley. Additionally, the report noted that four local council areas recorded zero spending on youth services per teenager.
The concrete day-to-day impact for families includes variations in physical safety and educational outcomes. Approximately 12% of children nationally reported feeling unsafe in their local area, but this figure rose to nearly 25% for children in Croydon. Furthermore, 55% of students nationally are failing to achieve a good standard in English and maths GCSEs, which are the primary qualifications for 16-year-olds in England. These disparities suggest that children in lower-performing areas may face different long-term employment prospects and health outcomes based solely on their residence.
The report recommends creating a "children's emergency fund" and establishing a minimum set of standards for education, policing, and health services. De Souza also proposed that larger local authorities and mayors appoint a deputy mayor for children to assess the impact of every policy on youth. Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated on a Monday that the government plans to increase investment in youth success rather than funding "failure through the benefits system." A specific date for the implementation of these recommendations or the establishment of the emergency fund was not reported.