Bury got no overall score in the Children's Commissioner's ranking because it never sent its data. What the rest shows, from libraries to EHCPs.
Bury is one of only four council areas in England with no overall score in the Children’s Commissioner’s new ranking of where children grow up. The other three are Nottinghamshire, the City of London and the Isles of Scilly.
The report, The Childhood Lottery, was published on 19 October. It scores all 153 top-tier councils on up to 128 measures, from vaccination rates to youth clubs.
The City of London and Scilly were left out because they have very few children. Bury and Nottinghamshire were left out for a different reason. The report says they did “not [return] data to the Children’s Commissioner by the deadline”.
Why the gap matters
Any council missing 20 per cent or more of the measures gets no published total. Bury is missing 34 of 128, or 27 per cent, according to the full dataset.
Most of the gaps are questions the Commissioner put to councils directly in 2025. They ask whether a borough offers services such as:
- a youth council, youth hubs and youth clubs
- a family hub or children’s centre
- a mental health drop-in for young people
- a bereavement service for children
- an educational psychology team
- independent advocates for children in care and care leavers
For Bury, every one of those answers is blank in the dataset. That does not mean the services do not exist. It means the Commissioner has no answer from the council to score.
Bury Council had not published a statement on the report on its newsroom by Sunday.
Where Bury ranks lowest
The dataset still ranks Bury on the measures drawn from national statistics. A rank of 1 is the best in England. These are its weakest:
| Measure | Bury | England | Bury’s rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Libraries per 10,000 children (2023) | 0.89 | 2.2 | 145th of 152 |
| Schools and colleges for over-16s per 1,000 people aged 17 to 19 (2026) | 0.1 | 1.2 | 147th of 150 |
| Care leavers aged 17 to 21 not in education, work or training (2025) | 47.8% | 40% | 146th of 149 |
| Teenagers given the tetanus, diphtheria and polio booster (2024-25) | 53.8% | 71.7% | 140th of 151 |
| Schools with a staff member for young carers (summer 2024) | 11.1% | 27% | 143rd of 151 |
| Schools offering free food (summer 2024) | 33.9% | 41% | 131st of 151 |
A few points on those figures:
- Libraries: Bury’s 0.89 is the lowest in the North West, where the range runs up to 5.87.
- Post-16 places: Tameside also scores 0.1. They are the joint lowest in Greater Manchester.
- Care leavers: nearly half of Bury’s care leavers were not in education, work or training. Manchester’s figure was 29.9 per cent and Salford’s 30.2 per cent.
The library figures behind the chart, per 10,000 children in 2023, come from the same dataset, which uses Arts Council England figures:
| Borough | Libraries per 10,000 children |
|---|---|
| Rochdale | 2.75 |
| Salford | 2.36 |
| Stockport | 2.31 |
| Wigan | 2.09 |
| Trafford | 1.94 |
| Oldham | 1.87 |
| Tameside | 1.7 |
| Bolton | 1.32 |
| Manchester | 1.29 |
| Bury | 0.89 |
Where Bury ranks near the top
Bury also ranks among the best in England on several measures:
| Measure | Bury | England | Bury’s rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children in care with three or more placements in a year (2025) | 6% | 10% | 5th of 150 |
| EHCPs issued within 20 weeks (2025) | 98.1% | 46.4% | 8th of 148 |
| Schools offering wraparound childcare (summer 2024) | 76.2% | 63% | 12th of 151 |
| Care leavers the council is still in touch with (2025) | 97% | 93% | 22nd of 149 |
The EHCP figure stands out. Education, Health and Care Plans set out the support a child with special educational needs is legally owed. Nationally, fewer than half are issued within the 20-week limit. In Bury, 98.1 per cent were.
Figures that are not Bury’s alone
The dataset’s police measures are recorded by force, not by council. Every Greater Manchester borough shows the same numbers for children reported missing, stopped and searched, arrested, or subject to police use of force. Those are Greater Manchester Police’s figures, so we have not counted them as Bury’s.
What it means for you
If you are a parent, the national figures here are the ones most worth knowing:
- Teenage boosters: only 53.8 per cent of eligible Bury teenagers had the tetanus, diphtheria and polio booster in 2024-25, against 71.7 per cent across England. If you are not sure whether your child had it, ask your GP surgery.
- Post-16 choice: the dataset counts 0.1 schools and colleges for over-16s per 1,000 young people aged 17 to 19 in Bury, the joint lowest in Greater Manchester.
- SEND support: if your child is waiting for an EHCP, Bury’s record on the 20-week deadline is one of the best in England.
The council’s own answers on youth services, family hubs and advocacy are missing from the report, so it cannot tell you what Bury offers. The council’s own website remains the place to check what is actually available.
Money for children’s services is also under pressure in the council’s budget consultation, which proposes cuts to school crossing patrols and youth services.
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