The Office of the Children’s Commissioner promotes and protects the rights of children and elevates children’s interests in policymaking. It features the Children’s Commissioner, who acts as the independent voice for children and works to gather views of all children – from across England, of all ages, and in familial or state care. It reports on and raises awareness of major issues impacting children, most recently children being advertised appearance-changing products online and children being placed in illegal homes by local authorities. It was established by the Children Act 2004. It is sponsored by the Department for Education (DfE). It however has a status of being independent from the DfE and is accordingly exempt from certain spending controls. Nonetheless, it can choose to work with any government department to carry out its functions.
