Children's Social Work Statistics Scotland, 2018-2019

Introduction

What do these statistics include?

We present information collected from local authorities and secure units on children and young people, who were formally looked after; under child protection measures; or in secure care at some point between 1 August 2018 and 31 July 2019.

How do children come to be counted in these figures?

There are a number of ways that a child may become looked after, on the child protection register or in secure care. Children may be referred to the Children's Reporter, become voluntarily looked after or come via the criminal justice system. The diagram below gives a high-level illustration of the main routes by which children would be included. See background note 1.1 for more information.

Coverage

Data for Children Looked after, Child Protection and Eligibility for Aftercare was collected for the period 1 August 2018 to 31 July 2019 from all local authorities in Scotland. Data for Glasgow City was not provided for the period 1 August 2017 to 31 July 2018. To estimate national figures for 2017-18, the 2016-17 figures for Glasgow City were used along with the 2017-18 figures for all other local authorities. More information on the impact that this missing data had was included in the 2017-18 publication (https://www.gov.scot/publications/childrens-social-work-statistics-2017-2018/).

Glasgow City council have now provided Scottish Government with the data for 2017-18. A revised version of this publication will be provided once the Glasgow data for 2017-18 can be made publically available. It is anticipated that the revised publication will be pre-announced later this year