Children in England are being left behind as Scotland and Northern Ireland follow in the footsteps of Wales and edge closer to appointing Children's Commissioners.
Eighteen countries worldwide, from Iceland to Australia, have Commissioners or Ombudsmen who act as national independent watchdogs for children by monitoring, promoting and safeguarding children's rights, as laid down in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It is argued that because children do not have the right to vote, and have little access to the media or any other power in society, they should have a spokesperson, otherwise their rights can be forgotten or ignored when in conflict with adult interests. But the post requires funding, can mean more bureaucracy, and governments do not necessarily have to heed the Children's Commissioner's advice.
Token show
Wales has had a Children's Commissioner since March 2001, and Northern Ireland will be appointing a Commissioner in the autumn. Earlier this month, children's organisations in Scotland celebrated as a Scottish Parliament report gave its support to the creation of a Children's Commissioner (News, 21 February).
But despite more than nine out of ten young people in England thinking a Children's Commissioner is a good idea, according to an NSPCC poll, England's children are no closer to getting a champion of their own.
Seventeen-year-old Cora Graham, a member of the Right Here Right Now campaign, believes children and young people need someone who will listen exclusively to them. 'I feel our views should be put forward, and an independent Children's Commissioner would be in a position to do that,' she says. 'The Government does sometimes ask for children's and young people's views, but it is often just a token show. They say they'll consider our views, but they do not carry them forward as much as they should.'
With issues of children's welfare falling across Government departments, children's rights can be overlooked. A Home Office spokeswoman says the Government has introduced initiatives to combat this, but there are no plans to establish a Children's Commissioner. She argues that a Commissioner would duplicate work by the Cabinet Committee on Children and Young People's Services and the Children and Young People's Unit, which has the task of supporting ministers, including the minister for young people, John Denham.
'It is felt that with the wide range of steps already taken, to establish a Children's Commissioner would not add to the value,' she says. 'But we do not rule out anything for ever.'
Liz Atkins, NSPCC head of policy, believes an independent Children's Commissioner would enhance the work of the minister for young people. 'The role of a Children's Commissioner would be completely objective because the position would be outside Government and, therefore, able to hold organisations to account,' she says. 'Wales has a Commissioner and Scotland and Northern Ireland will get one soon. It would be ludicrous if England's 11 million children were left out of the equation.'
Raising the profile
The Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) has been campaigning for 10 years to get a Children's Commissioner for England. Minimum role requirements drawn up by the Alliance include the Commissioner proofing legislation and Bills to see that children's rights are respected, challenging negative stereotypes of children and raising the profile of children's rights.
It is not envisaged that a Children's Commissioner would take on individual cases, but the NSPCC wants a Commissioner to have an investigative role with overall responsibility for reviewing child abuse and death, and for co-ordinating information, as is the case in New South Wales, Australia. 'There is an urgent need for a child protection watchdog to hold everyone to account for what they do - or don't do - for children. Too often children are failed by the very people, institutions or systems that are supposed to protect them and promote their welfare,' says Liz Atkins.
Establishing a Children's Commissioner is one hurdle, the next is to ensure they will have influence. 'The tricky part is that a Children's Commissioner could become a figurehead if that person has not got the resources,' says CRAE children's rights development officer Rosina Lyah. 'The Commissioner would be a Government appointment but should have adequate funding and power to have influence. If it was all set up properly it should not be a problem.'
The Children's Commissioner for Wales, Peter Clarke, has spent the past year establishing structures and consolidating powers. Sarah Reid, assistant Children's Commissioner for Wales, says, 'The unit is funded by the National Assembly with 800,000 a year. Initially, this did sound like a lot of money, but we have a big task in front of us and I doubt it will be enough. For any big projects, I expect Peter Clarke will have to make representations to the National Assembly for additional funding.
'It is important that the Commissioner has a nice smile, is approachable and accessible, but is also able to show his or her teeth and have the powers to back issues up and take them to the High Court. Whether he or she will need extended powers will need assessing over the coming year, but at the moment we are very pleased with what the National Assembly and Westminster have offered.'
Children's perspective
Sweden has had a Children's Ombudsman for eight years, with Lena Nyberg in the role for the past year. 'Mostly, the Government supports the work we do. Of course, we often have different opinions - but we maintain good contact,' she says. 'Naturally, I think we need much more money from the Government to fund the work we need to do. We have 22 staff and there are many different issues that are important for children so we do not have enough resources.' But it is felt the presence of a Children's Commissioner has given more visibility to children's rights in Sweden.
'During the eight years that we've had an Ombudsman, we can see our suggestions have been picked up in different ways - there is now a child's perspective written into the social act and in family rights laws, too.
'There is a law banning the corporal punishment of children and we are now campaigning to go one step further by making it illegal to psychologically punish children, such as by locking them in their bedrooms,' says Ms Nyberg. 'We are in discussions to try to make laws both clearer and better, to improve the rights of children. We do a lot of work to support children in vulnerable situations.'
Effective consultation with children is also key to a Children's Commissioner's success. The Welsh Commissioner was appointed after children assessed a shortlist of candidates. Two nominated young people sat on the formal interview panel to represent their peers' views.
In Norway, the first country to appoint a Children's Ombudsman in 1981, there is a free-phone number listed in all the country's telephone books, a weekly television programme is broadcast on which the Ombudsman addresses children's queries and staff answer thousands of phone calls and letters each year.
Achievements range from successfully lobbying for a law to prohibit parents smacking children and removing high-tension wires from play areas, to achieving lower temperatures in an Oslo school.
Lena Nyberg is working on ways to improve consultation with young children. A new initiative is to work with pre-school trainee teachers who report back from their placements. They also visit schools and recreation centres, and obtain views on issues via special child and youth councils, questionnaires and studies.
The children that Lena Nyberg has consulted are most concerned about bullying, stress in school and family situations. 'Young people can always be sceptical that no-one cares, so I find it very important when I have contact with children to show I am listening and value their opinions,' she says.
'Children are our future. We now see so many problems among children we have to give them possibilities for their future, allow them to be active in decision making and give them a higher status in our communities.'