CHILDREN & SOCIETY VOLUME 16 (2002) pp. 287–290Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/chi.733

The Children’sCommissioner for Wales

Wales has been in the forefront of moves to establisha children’s commissioner in the United Kingdom(UK) for a number of years. In 1993–94 Elfyn Lloyd

MP moved an amendment to the Standing Committee on theLocal Government (Wales) Bill that sought to introduce such acommissioner for Wales. Children in Wales, the umbrellachildren’s charity in Wales, also started to campaign for thesame at that time.

These initiatives really began to gather a momentum and focuswith the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales(NAW) in 1999. With the exception of the Conservatives, all ofthe main political parties included a promise to establish sucha post in their manifesto for the Assembly elections. The leadwas taken by the Health and Social Services Committee(HSSC), which adopted this task as a major priority and mana-ged to command all party support. A wide-ranging consulta-tion exercise was undertaken that included joint sessions of theHSCC and Education Committee taking evidence from awide range of public and voluntary sector bodies. I myselfgave evidence at one of these as part of a group from Voicesfrom Care, as a serving board member of that organisation.

If the advent of devolution may be said to have provided alocus and impetus for the establishment of a Children’sCommissioner for Wales, the publication of the report Lost inCare by Sir Ronald Waterhouse in February 2000 (Waterhouseand others, 2000) helped create a general groundswell ofsupport for the proposal. Sir Ronald made the establishment ofa Children’s Commissioner the first of his recommendations.There is little doubt that the events described in the report sentshock waves throughout Wales, and helped fuel a determina-tion that significant steps must be taken to ensure that theywere never repeated.

The HSSC laid its final report before the Assembly on 31 May2001. The paper outlined a wide-ranging remit for theCommissioner, and placed a strong emphasis on children’srights and direct involvement of young people in its work.

Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Policy

Review

Peter ClarkeChildren’sCommissioner for Wales

Correspondence to:

Peter Clarke (South Wales address)

Oystermouth House, Phoenix

Way, Swansea Enterprise Park,

Llansamlet, Swansea SA7 9FS.

(North Wales address) Penrhos

Manor, Oak Drive, Colwyn Bay,

Conwy, LL29 7YW

E-mail:

post@childcomwales.org.uk

After some initial reluctance by the UK government, the National Assembly’s request thatthe Care Standards Act 2000 be amended to establish a Children’s Commissioner forWales received a positive response.

This was in spite of the fact that the role would be more limited than originally envisagedby the NAW. The main limitation was that the remit was confined to the areas and servicesthat were themselves the subject of the Care Standards Act, principally social care servicesand notably excluding much educational and health provision. Undeterred, the NAW setabout recruiting the Commissioner, while at the same time pressing for the extension ofpowers through a free-standing Bill to be included in the Queen’s speech in December2000.

At this point I can give a more personal account of what transpired. In December 2000 Iwas appointed as the first Children’s Commissioner in the UK. This was just one of anumber of ‘firsts’ associated with the post. The Children’s Commissioner for Wales Bill,and the consequent Act, were the first Wales-only pieces of primary legislation to beintroduced since the establishment of the NAW—a small piece of legislative history. TheRegulations accompanying the Acts constitute the first time that a public official has beencharged with certain particular responsibilities under the United Nations Convention onthe Rights of the Child. I am required not only to ensure that as many of the approximately700,000 children in our country as possible are aware of their rights under thatConvention, but also to have regard to the Convention in all that I do.

However, I believe that the most significant ‘first’ by far is in the manner of myappointment. Like the other shortlisted candidates, I was interviewed for about an hour bya panel of young people, aged from 12–19 years old. The young people conducted theinterview themselves, asking questions they had set, and scoring the answers. After ashort break, shortlisted candidates were (individually) taken to another room where afurther panel of young people required us to undertake a role play, and to observe plays,and hear descriptions, of situations about which we were then questioned.

This group of young people had been selected by the NAW to be as representative aspossible. They had been prepared for the task of a series of weekends. They met at the endof the day to compare notes and to elect two of their number who then sat as full membersof the formal panel of ministers and others that conducted the formal interviews the nextday.

I have checked with colleagues in Scandinavia and other places where such an approachmight be expected and have found that this is almost certainly the first time in the worldthat a public official at this level has been appointed with such direct, meaningful andformal involvement of children. I believe that this was greatly to the credit of the NAW. Ithas also set the tone for the way in which I will carry out all the work of my office.Seventeen of the 22 staff who will together constitute my staff team have been appointedby panels typically comprising two adults and two young people.

The Acts establishing the Commissioner are generally enabling rather than prescriptive.They do, however, require that I pay special attention to the interests and views of groupsof young people that are often marginalised: for example, young people in care of publicauthorities, disabled young people, traveller children, or young people from black and

288 Peter Clarke

Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. CHILDREN & SOCIETY Vol. 16, 287–290 (2002)

minority ethnic communities. Although a large part of my first year has been taken upwith the necessary tasks associated with developing staff structures, recruitment, officesand the like, I have established or linked to regular meetings with such groups of youngpeople. My team is also required to ensure that the children and young people of Walesare encouraged and enabled to communicate with us, and that we should seek the viewsof children in decisions on how the Commissioner’s functions should be exercised. I seethis as a simple rule that we shall try to involve them in all of our work. My largest staffteam (Communications) will be primarily dedicated to this task, and they are establishingways in which we will achieve it. Over the coming six years of my tenure, we intend toevolve approaches that will result in children and young people taking a degree of realcontrol of my office, and their exercising extensive and real influence over what we do andhow we do it.

There are a number of other initiatives that will be helpful for us in this regard. The NAWis supporting and funding Young Voice,1an organisation run by young people that willfeed their views into the Assembly. There is a commitment in A Framework for partnership(National Assembly for Wales, 2000) for youth forums to be set up in each local authorityin Wales, and a commitment in education policy to school councils being set up in all ourschools. We are starting to build real links with these groups.

We did not have a logo for our office. We circulated every school in Wales with entryforms for a competition to design one. This meant that thousands of Welsh children got toread or hear about some of the basic features of their Commissioner, and over 4000 enteredthe competition. We now have a logo designed by a 12 year old young woman from NorthWales.

We are developing a website as a major part of our communications strategy. Alongsidethe specialists we have groups of young people who we hope will tell us what works forthem and what doesn’t.

In June 2002, I announced a major Review of Advocacy, Whistleblowing and ComplaintsArrangements of LA Social Services Departments for children and young people. Youngpeople themselves will be part of the reviewing process.

This direct and meaningful involvement of children and young people is by no means theonly thing we will be doing. I have not described here a whole range of other functions andactivities that are part of the Commissioner’s remit. However, I believe that thisinvolvement is the most important thing we will do.

In my first year I have talked with hundreds of Welsh children. One major message theygive is that they do not, in general, feel respected by adults. They cite many reasons for thisimpression, but their message is clear. We are determined to show children and youngpeople that the Children’s Commissioner respects them. Working together, and makingreal decisions after real discussions will be a major part of that. My post is often describedas being the ‘children’s champion’. I will have to earn the right to that title and only thechildren can give it to me.

1The Young Voice website is available at http : ==www:wales:gov:uk=youngvoice=

The Childrens Commissioner for Wales 289

Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. CHILDREN & SOCIETY Vol. 16, 287–290 (2002)

References

National Assembly for Wales. 2000. Children and Young People: A Framework for Partnership. NAW:Cardiff, [online]. Available: http://www:wales:gov:uk/subisocialpolicy/content/consultations/young/q262a360%20english:pdf

Waterhouse R, Clough M, le Fleming M. 2000. Lost in Care: Report of the Tribunal of Inquiry into theAbuse of Children in Care in the Former County Council Areas of Gwynedd and Clwyd since 1974. TheStationery Office: London.

Contributor’s details

Peter Clarke became Director of ChildLine for Wales in 1995, and was on the boards of anumber of charities including Voices from Care before being appointed Children’sCommissioner for Wales in December 2000.

290 Peter Clarke

Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. CHILDREN & SOCIETY Vol. 16, 287–290 (2002)