Children's Social Work Statistics, 2011-12

Child Protection

This section presents data on children on the child protection register from 1 August 2011 to 31 July 2012. Child protection means protecting a child from child abuse or neglect. This can either be in cases where abuse or neglect has taken place, or in cases where a likelihood of significant harm or neglect has been identified. The risk of harm or neglect will be considered at a Child Protection Case Conference. Where a child is believed to be at risk of significant harm, their name will be added to the child protection register (referred to as a child protection registration).

Chart 4: Children on the child protection register, by age, 2000-2012

As Chart 4 shows, the number of children on the child protection register has fluctuated but overall increased by 35 per cent between 2001 and 2012 (from 2,050 in 2000 to 2,706 in 2012). Over the last 12 years there has been an increase in the proportion of younger children on the child protection register and corresponding decrease in older children. In 2012, more than half of children on the child protection register (51%) were aged under five.

There is no strong gender pattern among children on the child protection register. Half were boys, 47 per cent were girls and the remaining 4 per cent were unborn children (these figures sum to more than 100% due to rounding). At 31 July 2012, there were 95 unborn children on the child protection register, an increase of 15 on 2011. Because there was a change in how unborn children were recorded by local authorities in 2010, only the 2011 and 2012 figures for unborn children are comparable.

Table 2.1: Number of children on the child protection register by gender, 2000, 2005, 2010-2012⁽¹⁾

	2000	2005	2010	2011	2012	% of total 2012	Rate per 1,000 children 2012(2)
Boys	1,080	1,098	1,275	1,282	1,349	50%	2.9
Girls	970	1,059	1,199	1,209	1,262	47%	2.8
Unborns	-	-	44	80	95	4%	-
All children	2,050	2,157	2,518	2,571	2,706	100%	3.0

(1) Until 2010-11 data was collected at 31 March. From 2011 data has been collected at 31 July. Full data by gender and age group for 2000-2012 is available in Table 2.1 of the excel version of the publication tables - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/PubChildrenSocialWork
(2) Source: National Records of Scotland, 2011 mid-year population estimates.

Table 2.2 shows that, in Scotland in 2011-12, three children in every 1,000 children under 16 were on the child protection register. At local authority level the rate varied from less than one per 1,000 children (0.9 per 1,000 children) in Orkney to 7.5 per 1,000 children in Midlothian.

In 2011 Midlothian saw a substantial increase in the number of children on the child protection register due to a higher level of identification of abuse and neglect within Midlothian and an increase in public and professional awareness of child protection. Following this increase, the level in Midlothian in 2012 is still higher than the rest of Scotland.

Table 2.2: Number and rate⁽¹⁾ per 1,000 population aged 0-15 of children on the child protection register: 2007, 2009, 2011-2012⁽²⁾, by local authority

Local authority area	At 31 March				At 31 July
	2009		2010		2011		2012
	Number	Rate per 1,000	Number	Rate per 1,000	Number	Rate per 1,000	Number	Rate per 1,000
Aberdeen City	182	5.5	119	3.6	96	2.8	87	2.5
Aberdeenshire	81	1.7	51	1.1	68	1.5	73	1.6
Angus	82	4.1	92	4.7	66	3.4	59	3.0
Argyll & Bute	32	2.1	43	2.9	39	2.7	48	3.4
Clackmannanshire	58	6.0	56	5.9	39	4.1	55	5.8
Dumfries & Galloway	79	3.1	100	4.0	101	4.1	94	3.9
Dundee City	95	4.0	70	2.9	90	3.8	82	3.4
East Ayrshire	75	3.5	42	2.0	65	3.1	74	3.5
East Dunbartonshire	27	1.4	28	1.5	26	1.4	23	1.2
East Lothian	84	4.5	70	3.7	60	3.2	62	3.3
East Renfrewshire	29	1.6	31	1.7	24	1.4	34	1.9
Edinburgh, City of	287	4.1	256	3.6	244	3.4	227	3.1
Eilean Siar	23	5.1	6	1.3	4	0.9	11	2.5
Falkirk	93	3.3	73	2.6	56	2.0	79	2.8
Fife	191	2.9	220	3.4	187	2.9	206	3.2
Glasgow City	299	3.1	286	3.0	351	3.6	436	4.4
Highland	69	1.8	99	2.5	97	2.5	116	3.0
Inverclyde	42	3.0	35	2.5	29	2.1	33	2.4
Midlothian	90	5.9	96	6.2	158	10.2	117	7.5
Moray	66	4.2	44	2.8	48	3.1	45	3.0
North Ayrshire	56	2.3	60	2.4	77	3.2	74	3.1
North Lanarkshire	74	1.2	63	1.0	87	1.4	79	1.3
Orkney Isles	4	1.1	1	0.3	4	1.2	3	0.9
Perth & Kinross	43	1.7	49	2.0	62	2.5	37	1.5
Renfrewshire	126	4.1	119	3.9	102	3.4	86	2.8
Scottish Borders	47	2.3	32	1.6	34	1.7	37	1.9
Shetland	11	2.6	10	2.4	6	1.4	7	1.6
South Ayrshire	31	1.7	43	2.4	49	2.7	64	3.5
South Lanarkshire	117	2.1	135	2.4	141	2.5	165	2.9
Stirling	50	3.1	43	2.7	47	2.9	40	2.5
West Dunbartonshire	31	1.9	27	1.7	20	1.2	35	2.2
West Lothian	108	3.1	119	3.4	94	2.7	118	3.4
Scotland	2,682	2.9	2,518	2.8	2,571	2.8	2,706	3.0

(1) Source: National Records of Scotland, 2008-2011 mid-year population estimates.
(2) Information for all years from 2007 is included in the publication tables and a map of the 2012 rates is presented in the additional tables: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/PubChildrenSocialWork

Revised National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland was published by the Scottish Government in December 2010 which allows local authorities to record multiple risks/concerns (rather than just the main category of abuse) and expands the list of potential concerns. Because in 2012 multiple concerns can be recorded per child for the first time, the total number of concerns is larger than the total number of registrations. The changes in recording mean that the 2012 figures on concerns identified are not comparable to previous data on category of abuse/risk.

Table 2.3 shows that for the 2,706 children on the child protection register at 31 July 2012 there were 5,705 concerns at the case conferences at which they were registered - an average of 2.1 concerns per conference. The most common concerns identified were emotional abuse (38%), neglect (37%) and parental substance misuse (34%).

Table 2.3 Concerns identified⁽¹⁾ at the case conferences of children who were on the child protection register at 31 July 2012

Concerns identified at case conferences	% of children registered at 31 July 2012
		2012
Neglect	1,006	37%
Parental substance misuse	918	34%
Parental Mental Health Problems	516	19%
Non-engaging family	453	17%
Domestic abuse	758	28%
Sexual abuse	229	8%
Physical abuse	471	17%
Emotional abuse	1,016	38%
Child Placing themselves at risk	46	2%
Child Exploitation	9	0%
Other concerns	283	10%
Total concerns	5,705	211%

(1) The 2012 data should not be compared to previous years' data on category of abuse/risk. The Scottish Government published revised National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland in December 2010 which expanded the categories for abuse/concerns identified at case conferences. As a result, many of the categories in 2012 may have been included in other categories previously or would not have been counted as they have no equivalent in previous years.

Child protection registrations and de-registrations

The number of both registrations to the child protection register and de-registrations from the child protection register have both increased over the last five years. Table 2.4 shows that 16 per cent of children who were placed on the child protection register during 2011-12 had been on a child protection register before. This figure has fluctuated over the past five years, but is consistently between 13% and 16%.

Table 2.5 shows that there were 4,155 de-registrations from the child protection in the year to 31 July 2012, 332 more than in 2010-11. More than eight in ten de-registrations (83 per cent) in 2011-12 were for children who had been registered for less than a year. The most common reason for de-registration in 2011-12 (in 42 per cent of cases) was that the home situation had improved.

Table 2.4: Number of registrations following an initial, pre-birth or transfer case conference, 2007, 2009, 2011-2012⁽¹⁾ - by length of time since previous de-registration

	Year Ended 31 March		Year Ended 31 July		% of total
Time since last de-registration	2007	2009	2011	2012	2012
Never been registered before	2,565	3,103	3,277	3,408	82%
Registered before but time unknown	8	0	3	10	0%
Less than 6 months	92	68	98	89	2%
6 months - < 1 year	68	78	107	99	2%
1 year - < 18 months	46	94	74	83	2%
18 months - < 2 years	43	54	61	79	2%
2 years or more	120	231	262	304	7%
Not known if been registered before	206	0	2	83	2%
Proportion of registrations to children who had been registered before(2)	13%	14%	16%	16%
Total	3,148	3,628	3,884	4,155	100%

(1) Information back to 2007 is included in the excel version of the publication tables: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/PubChildrenSocialWork
(2) This is calculated as a proportion of registrations excluding cases where it is not known if a child had been registered before. Excludes cases where it is not known if a child had been registered before

Table 2.5: Number of de-registrations from the child protection register, 2007, 2009, 2011-2012, by length of time on register and reason for de-registration⁽¹⁾

	Year Ended 31 March		Year Ended 31 July		% of total 2012	% change
	2007	2009	2011	2012		2011-2012
Length of time registered
Less than 6 months	1,329	1,498	1,713	1,929	46%	13%
6 months to under 1 year	1,092	1,178	1,477	1,535	37%	4%
1 year to under 18 months	362	447	419	516	12%	23%
18 months to under 2 years	158	197	139	117	3%	-16%
2 years or more	143	179	75	58	1%	-23%
Reason for de-registration(2)
Child taken into care & risk reduced	-	536	501	582	14%	16%
Child with other carers	-	295	278	295	7%	6%
Child died	-	6	6	9	0%	50%
Removal of perpetrator	-	82	56	70	2%	25%
Improved home situation	-	1,195	1,186	1,742	42%	47%
Child automatically de-registered because of age	-	16	14	6	0%	-57%
Child moved away - no continued risk	-	33	32	20	0%	-38%
Child transferred to another local authority	-	135	130	175	4%	35%
Other reason(3)	-	1,201	1,620	1,256	30%	-22%
Total	3,084	3,499	3,823	4,155	100%	9%

(1) This table previously included breakdowns on the category of abuse/risk, which is not available from 2012. Information for all years back to 2007 is included in the excel version of the publication tables: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/PubChildrenSocialWork
(2) Information on the reason for de-registration is not available prior to 2007-08.
(3) This category was called reduced risk (other) prior to 2012.

Cross-UK child protection comparisons

Child protection systems across the United Kingdom vary but are generally comparable. While Scotland has seen an increase in the rate of registrations to the child protection register over the last decade, it is not as steep as the increase in England and Wales over the same period. Northern Ireland has seen a different pattern to the other three UK countries over the same period, with a very sharp increase in the rates of child protection registrations until 2009 and a relative decline in registrations since then. Between 2011 and 2012 the rate of registrations in England and Wales has stayed the same and in Northern Ireland has decreased. This has slightly narrowed the difference in rate of registrations to the child protection register between Scotland and the other countries in the UK.

Chart 5: Cross-UK comparison of rate of children on the child protection register per 10,000 under 18s, 2004-2012

There is more information on the differences between the collection of child protection data in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland and how this affects the comparability here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/socialservicestats

There are additional tables on child protection available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/PubChildrenSocialWork