Every strategic authority in England should appoint a deputy mayor for children, or a designated lead, to ensure devolution delivers for young people, the Children's Commissioner has said.

In a speech today, Dame Rachel de Souza urged national, regional and local government to use new devolved powers so that children's life chances are not decided by where they live. She warned that in some communities, conditions amount to a ‘state of emergency’.

She also published The Childhood Lottery, a dataset and interactive map of more than 160 measures covering every local authority in England.

Ranking areas on almost 100 scored metrics, including health, education, housing and safety, it names Middlesbrough, Hounslow, Bradford, Nottingham, Halton, Peterborough, Leicester, Liverpool, Sunderland and Medway the hardest places to grow up.

Cheshire East, Merton, Surrey, Richmond upon Thames, Hertfordshire, Cheshire West and Chester, Haringey, Leicestershire, Central Bedfordshire and Wokingham are the least challenging.

The report highlights stark differences in service delivery between different areas. Waits for children's mental health treatment, for example, range from six median days in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to 118 in Hampshire and Isle of Wight.

Dame Rachel also called for minimum standards for children's outcomes, backed by a national fund for areas that fall short, and a ‘children's test’ for strategic authorities' policies.

‘Devolution represents an opportunity. It offers a clean break. The chance for a line in the sand moment,’ she said.

‘The problems I have identified are not just at a service level – though sometimes they are – they are utterly systemic. The system change that devolution represents is a unique chance to remove the extreme inequality and unfairness I have found.’

Commenting on the commissioner’s announcement, Cllr Natalie Oliver, chair of the Local Government Association’s Children, Young People and Families Committee, said: ‘As this data shows, every area has different challenges which no single organisation can tackle alone. It is important that local partners work together to address those, and to make sure that all children and families get the support they need, when they need it.

‘The Government’s plans to ‘rewire the state’ need to make sure public services have the right resources, duties and powers at the right levels, to deliver the best possible outcomes for and with their communities.’

Watch: ADCS president Ann Graham on unregistered children's homes