Tackling child neglect in Scotland 1: follow-up survey 2016

Introduction

Follow-up survey in 2016

3. This 2016 survey was commissioned by Scottish Government to inform the Child Protection Improvement Programme and the Neglect Improvement Pilot lead by CELCIS in three local authority areas. The survey was developed in partnership with the Neglect Subgroup of Child Protection Committees Scotland.

4. A similar survey of Child Protection Committees had been undertaken in 2012 as part of a series of UK-wide reviews of child neglect conducted by the University of Stirling and Action for Children. It was decided to keep the same format and questions, as far as possible, to the survey in 2012 to allow for comparisons to be made if possible.

5. Both surveys focused on four areas:

Section 1 - Definitions of child neglect

Section 2 - Identifying children who may be experiencing neglect

Section 3 - Identifying the number of children who may be experiencing neglect

Section 4 - Services for neglected children and families

6. Two or three additional questions were added to the 2016 survey to take account of developments to legislation and policy. Since 2012, the Child and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 had both come into force.

7. In 2012 the return rate of completed surveys from Child Protection Committees was 75% (n=25) and in 2016 the return was also 75% (n=24).