Children are already telling us what the village should look like

More than 600,000 children and young people have told the Children's Commissioner for England what they need. Not from a focus group of twelve, nor a consultation lost on a government website, but through ten weeks' worth of contributions to The Big Future - a survey that has already eclipsed its predecessors, The Big Ask and The Big Ambition.

Dame Rachel de Souza set out to hear from a million children. In her reflection on the survey so far, published on 3 August 2026, she confirms the familiar refrain: children want safe places to play, opportunities to succeed, communities where they belong - and, above all, adults who will listen to them and take their views seriously.

I read that list twice. It is, almost word for word, what makes a village.

What children are actually asking for

There is value in pausing here to appreciate how modest their requests are. These are not calls for a policy revolution. Rather, children want a park they can use without fear, a place they can truly call their own, and an adult who will give them a hearing. Dame Rachel's point is clear: children do not expect every problem to be fixed overnight, but "they do expect to be taken seriously".

The regional details sharpen the picture. In Birmingham, children spoke of community spirit that helps them thrive. In Suffolk, the call was for safe places and activities beyond social media. In Lancashire, young people described how comparison-driven, algorithm-shaped online experiences chip away at their confidence and self-worth in the real world. Bournemouth's children celebrated the adults who back them up, wanting every child to have the same chance to get outside and thrive.

Taken together, a pattern emerges. Where the village exists and thrives, children notice - and give credit. Where it has diminished, screens fill the void, and children feel what that costs.

The listening gap

Here is the uncomfortable number: the Commissioner's previous survey, The Big Ambition, revealed that only one in five children believe leaders listen to their views.

It matters more than Westminster might realise. When children sense that those with power over their lives aren't listening, they come away with a deeper lesson about whether their voice counts at all. That lesson colours their experiences in school, at home, in youth clubs, and eventually in the workplace.

Adults spend a great deal of time talking about children's lives - from online safety to support for additional needs. Yet children say they feel left out of these conversations. We risk designing the village without asking those who have to live in it.

Children are already telling us what the village should look like. The question is whether we are building it.

Support and Accountability, in children's own words

In Rebuilding the Village, I describe what young people need through the ASPIRE framework. Two pillars stand out in what The Big Future is hearing.

First, Support. Safe places to play, communities where children belong, and adults who back them up are not extras; they are the scaffolding young people grow against. The children in Bournemouth were not just naming adults; they were describing Support in action, and asking for it to be available to everyone.

Second, Accountability runs both ways. We rightly ask young people to take responsibility. But if accountability only flows downwards - from adults to children - it tips into control. If 600,000 children share their views and see no visible response, we teach them that participation is theatre. True accountability means closing the loop: telling children what we heard, what changed, and, importantly, what could not change - and why.

A new government, a familiar test

Since The Big Future launched, the political landscape has shifted. A new Prime Minister, a new government. Dame Rachel intends to take the voices of children to Ministers, parliamentarians and decision makers.

This is, quite genuinely, an opportunity. But the test for any government - and indeed for all of us - is not whether we commission the survey, but whether children can see, in their own streets, schools and communities, that someone was listening.

The village is not built in Westminster alone. It is built by the teacher who asks what a quiet pupil thinks, the coach who explains a decision, the parent who puts the phone down, the employer who offers a young person a real say. Every one of those adults can act on The Big Future without waiting for a white paper.

You can read Dame Rachel's reflection in full on the Children's Commissioner for England website.

These themes sit at the heart of Rebuilding the Village, which explores how we rebuild the communities that help young people grow up resilient, supported, and heard.

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