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Dame Rachel de Souza said in a statement: \u201cThe extent of failure is too great. I cannot see what I have seen, here and over my six years as Commissioner, and see the status quo as anything less than a national emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe cannot tolerate the status quo. Children care so deeply about where they live – that is why I have undertaken this work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLocal, regional and national decision makers need to take a hard look at this data and understand what they need to change so that they can start delivering for children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire was determined as the most challenging place to grow up, and Cheshire East has been named as one of the least. Areas in South Yorkshire ranked as both highest and lowest across the scales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
360Wire have analysed the data and compiled the most notable revelations for Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Early Years<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Barnsley ranked as the ninth lowest in measurements of access to wrap-around childhood care in the 2024 summer term – only 44.9% of schools in the area provided the services, which are valuable for those with working times that don\u2019t align with school hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Doncaster ranked tenth highest out of local authorities\u2019 spending on youth services, in the context of different service provision types captured in the section 251 department of the budget returns to the Department of Education. During the 2024\/25 financial year, they spent on average \u00a3246 per person aged 13-19. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, Sheffield ranked eighth among local authorities for their spending on targeted and universal family support services as a proportion of their overall children and young peoples\u2019 expenditure, with 15.6% of it being assigned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The report also revealed that 100% of local authorities in Yorkshire and The Humber had family hubs or children\u2019s centres in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Barnsley had the second highest number of health visitors across all local authorities, with 6 in full time employment per 1,000 children. Health visitors are part of the child health workforce, and provide direct health intervention and guidance to new parents. Rotherham was also ranked sixth, with 4.9 on average in FTE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to NHS statistics, South Yorkshire had 22,025 children with active mental health referrals (referred to as \u2018any period of waiting\u2019) in 2024-25. Sheffield also had the sixth highest number of children who saw NHS dentists in that period with over 70% of young people aged 0-17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No local authority across the country reached the national target of 95% for vaccination coverage. Locations in South Yorkshire reached high rankings, however, with 93.4% coverage for the MMRV vaccine and 84.7% for the HPV vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When surveyed in 2024, 14.7% of children in Barnsley disagreed with the statement \u201cyou have a healthy diet.\u201d The town also had the fourth highest percentage of pupils enrolled in the Mental Health Support Team programme, with 93%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schools, jobs and skills<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the most alarming revelations came in the education section of the report, especially for Barnsley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When surveyed in 2024, 46.2% of children in Barnsley disagreed with the statement \u201cI enjoy school,\u201d and 21.2% of children disagreed that they had \u201cgreat teachers who support you,\u201d making them the highest proportioned local authorities in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barnsley also had the seventh highest amount of unauthorised absences in 2024\/25 from special provision schools with 35.1%, and the highest amount of absences from special schools in that period, with 10.1% marked unauthorised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to this, they also had the lowest rate of post-16 provisions per 1000 young people in 2026, averaging 0.1 for each young person. Sheffield had the second highest percentage of children missing education for various reasons, including those awaiting school places or not receiving suitable education, with 8% of children missing schooling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n