Aynsley-Green is raring to go

England’s first children’s commissioner has promised some “quick
wins” once he takes his post up full-time in July.

Speaking to Community Care following news of his appointment, Al
Aynsley-Green said he already had a “very comprehensive list of
issues” he wanted to deal with but had to be realistic about his
finite resources.

“I am going to have to go through a rigorous process of
prioritisation,” he said. “And that must include some quick wins to
demonstrate that the commissioner is not a poodle, as well as
getting serious about advocating for those issues that children and
young people feel passionately about.”

The children’s doctor said he was interested in copying a model he
had seen in Sweden “whose only function is to look at the impact of
the emerging legislation coming out of government from the child’s
perspective”.

But given the importance placed on the post-holder’s independence
from government, eyebrows have already been raised within the
sector about Aynsley-Green’s temporary residence within Department
for Education and Skills’ premises, and the appointment of Margaret
Hodge’s former private secretary Claire Carroll to the equivalent
role in his office for at least the next nine months.