# Youth services in crisis across England, commissioner warns

> Rachel de Souza identifies ten areas where children face systemic failures in education, safety and health, calling conditions a state of emergency.
- Title: Youth services in crisis across England, commissioner warns
- Summary: Rachel de Souza identifies ten areas where children face systemic failures in education, safety and health, calling conditions a state of emergency…
- Keywords: rachel de souza, children's commissioner, youth services, middlesbrough, hounslow, child poverty, england, north-south divide, education, local government, news, world
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/19/children-services-state-of-emergency-hardest-places-england
- Published: 2026-10-19T12:11:45+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: rachel de souza, children's commissioner, youth services, middlesbrough, hounslow, child poverty, england, north-south divide, education, local government, news, world
## Commissioner declares state of emergency
Rachel de Souza, England's children's commissioner, says youth services in parts of the country are in a state of emergency. She has visited schools, youth clubs and young offender institutions across the country.
## What the commissioner witnessed
De Souza said some of what she heard and seen had utterly disgusted her.In Middlesbrough, a fourteen year old girl told her the crime statistics in her area.

> Children should not have to know those statistics
## The hardest places to grow up
De Souza's analysis of over one hundred sixty measures identified ten areas as the hardest places for children: Middlesbrough, Hounslow, Bradford, Nottingham, Halton, Peterborough, Leicester, Liverpool, Sunderland and Medway.
## The easiest places to grow up
By contrast, ten relatively wealthy areas were identified as the least challenging places to be a child: Cheshire East, Merton, Surrey, Richmond upon Thames, Hertfordshire, Cheshire West and Chester, Haringey, Leicestershire, Central Bedfordshire and Wokingham.
## A north-south divide emerges
The report, called The Childhood Lottery, says a north-south divide exists.Authorities in the south are more likely to score higher across the metrics, while those in the north score lower, with the Midlands in between.
## De Souza's recommendations
De Souza urged the government to draw up minimum standards for education, policing, health and youth services. She recommended every strategic authority have a deputy mayor for children accountable for delivering on a children's test.
## Government response
The Department for Education said it was working to improve childcare support and school standards, and giving more power to local leaders to shape the future of education.
## Key takeaway

England's children's commissioner says youth services in parts of the country are in a state of emergency, with ten areas identified as the hardest places for children to grow up.