Dame Rachel de SouzaRegulator

Biography

Dame Rachel de Souza DBE has served as Children's Commissioner for England since March 2021, holding a statutory independent role to promote and protect the rights of children, with particular regard to those living away from home or receiving children's social care. The Office of the Children's Commissioner is a non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Education, which acts with political independence from government. Before her appointment, de Souza was a teacher and headteacher for over 30 years, and co-founded and led the Inspiration Trust, a multi-academy trust of fourteen schools in East Anglia, which was twice ranked the top group of comprehensive schools in England by pupil progress at GCSE. She was appointed DBE in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to education. In her Commissioner role she has conducted large-scale surveys of children — including The Big Ask (557,077 responses in 2021) and The Big Ambition — to place children's voices at the heart of government policy on health, social care, and education. She has published annual reports on children's mental health services, called for urgent action on waiting times for children's mental health treatment, and argued that children's social care must receive equal ambition and attention alongside health and education reform.

References

1. 1.About the Children's Commissioner for England | Children's Commissioner for England — Current role, statutory remit, background as teacher and headteacher for over 30 years, and The Big Ask survey
2. 2.Children's Commissioner's response to the Jay Review | Children's Commissioner for England — Statutory independent role to protect and promote rights of children, particular regard to children receiving children's social care
3. 3.Children's Commissioner calls for urgent action to tackle waiting times and inequality in mental health care for children — Fourth annual report on children's mental health, key statistics, and call for children to be central to NHS 10 Year Plan
4. 4.Dame Rachel de Souza – Schools North East — Appointment in 2021, leadership of Inspiration Trust (twice ranked top comprehensive group by GCSE progress), DBE in 2014

Expertise

Cited on

• Mental health
• Adult social care & reform

Stated areas of expertise

• Children's mental health services
• Children's social care
• Children's rights and advocacy
• Care-experienced children and young people
• Child health inequalities
• Online safety for children

Notable achievements

• Conducted The Big Ask in 2021, the largest-ever survey of children in England, receiving 557,077 responses from children aged 4–18 across every local authority. Source ↗
• Published a fourth annual report on children's mental health (2023–24), revealing nearly 60,000 children were referred to mental health services as 'in crisis' and calling for children to be placed at the heart of the NHS 10 Year Plan. Source ↗
• Co-founded the Inspiration Trust in 2012, leading it to be twice ranked the top group of comprehensive schools in England based on pupil progress at GCSE. Source ↗
• Appointed DBE in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to education. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “Any social media ban must be enforced in such a way that it does not drive children to other, darker parts of the internet.”

  Children's Commissioner for England · Mental health · 27 Aug 2026 · Mumsnet calls for under-16s social media ban with cigarette-style health warnings ↗

• “I have been warning about this practice for years, and I need leaders at every level to grip it urgently. Hundreds of children with complex needs each year are in placements operating without regulation or safeguards because there are simply not enough good, safe options to give them the quality of care they need.”

  Children's Commissioner · Adult social care & reform · 27 Aug 2026 · Nearly fivefold increase in children in unregulated social care settings in England ↗

Source references

1. Mumsnet calls for under-16s social media ban with cigarette-style health warningstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. Nearly fivefold increase in children in unregulated social care settings in Englandtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/about-us/the-childrens-commissioner-for-england/
• Press office emailpress@childrenscommissioner.gov.ukpublished here ↗
• Press office phone02045 666 313published here ↗
• Xhttps://x.com/Rachel_deSouza
• LinkedInhttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/racheldesouza

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.