Keith's Blog

Archive for November, 2011

Ten years on

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

Ten years ago, a landmark report into the wide scale abuse that took place in the care system in north Wales was published. It was called Lost in Care, and included in its 72 recommendations was a call for the establishment of the UK’s first Children’s Commissioner for Wales; an independent champion to protect and promote the rights and welfare of children in Wales.

On 5 October 2011, I found myself standing as the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Office in the Senedd, surrounded by friends, colleagues and well-wishers.  I was stood next to His Honour Judge Nicholas Cooke QC, counsel for Clywch, the first inquiry of this Office led by my predecessor. He gave a powerful speech that not only paid tribute to the work of my predecessor, the late Peter Clarke, but provided an overview of the Office’s accomplishments so far. I couldn’t help but feel a huge sense of pride an honour of what we’ve achieved as an Office and as a country when it comes to realising children’s rights. I also felt a huge sense of duty to preserve what we’ve got and to drive for more change. 

Earlier in the day I invited 60 students from five secondary schools to join my celebrations. They gathered in Siambr Hywel, eager to have their voices heard and to engage in a question and answer session with Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones. Their questions ranged from, “Would you consider lowering the voting age to 16?” to “What’s the hardest thing about being the First Minister”. They also took part in an electronic vote in which 66% said that they believed that adults and decision makers were listening to them more now, than in previous years. But, only 37% felt that they were involved in decisions made in their schools, whilst a whopping 86% didn’t feel that they were involved in decisions made in their community.

The issues raised by this group of young people serves as an important reminder that there is still a lot to be done to improve the lives of children and young people in Wales. The 5 October marked not only the office’s tenth anniversary but also the day I launched my fourth annual report as the Children’s Commissioner for Wales. This was a key opportunity for me to highlight all the areas that concern me most about the current state of childhood in Wales, I like to see it as a state of the nation for practitioners and policy makers alike.

But turning aspiration into reality is the challenge for us in Wales. I have spoken in the past of the implementation gap and that still remains – but perhaps it’s worth us refocusing on what that means for the child.

What are the elements that lead to the inequality of outcomes and what are those inequality of outcomes? We need to meet them head on.

My key call from this year’s annual report was for the new Welsh Government and service providers across the board to take stock of how we deliver public services  to children and young people. We have gold-plated policies and strategies in Wales, but I’m yet to be convinced that they are strategies which work together and work on the ground to improve the lives of children. Too often I hear from children, young people and their families who are struggling to access help and support.

We need these strategies to focus on the practice and outcomes agenda by equipping the workforce appropriately. We also need to ensure we can hold service providers to account when the standards to which we should all aspire are not achieved.

The commitment and skills of professionals are clear for all to see, it’s just about harnessing those energies to enable every child in Wales to reach their full potential.

Here is a virtual copy of the Annual Report & Accounts:

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