The Department for Education has released statistics on children referred to and assessed by children’s social services for the year ending 31 March 2019.

Key findings:

• The number of children in need at 31 March was 399,500 which is a decrease of 1% from 2018; the decrease may in part be explained by a rise of 3%, to 343,000, in the number of children that ended an episode of need compared to last year.
• The number of children that started an episode of need in 2018-19 was relatively unchanged compared to last year at 381,000.
• There were 52,300 subject to a child protection plan at 31 March 2018, a decrease of 3% from 2018.
• The number of child protection plans ending during the year increased to 67,900, an increase of 3% from 2018.
• The number of child protection plans starting during the year fell by 3% to 66,700.
• Among the figure, 53% of children in need were male, 45% female and 2% unborn or of unknown gender, which is the same as 2018.
• Since 2015, the age categories of children in need between 10 and 15, and those 16+ have reflected a long-term increase of children in need. The age groups below this have all decreased since 2015.
• The ethnic breakdown is similar to last year, of all children in need:

- 72% were white

- 9% were mixed

- 9% were black

- 7% were Asian

- 3% were another ethnic group.

• The number of referrals decreased slightly to 650,900 in 2019 from 655,600 in 2018. 
• The number of referrals within 12 months of a previous referral increased slightly to 147,200 in 2019 from 143,800 in 2018. 
• The percentage of referrals that resulted in no further action decreased to 8% between 2012-13 and 2018-19.
• The percentage of referrals where children were assessed as being not in need increased from 19% to 29% over the same period.
• The number of assessments completed in the year ending 31 March 2019 was 644,700, an increase from 631,100 at the same point in 2018.
• The average duration of an assessment is 32 working days.
• The primary need at assessment remains largely unchanged, with abuse or neglect accounting for 54%. Family dysfunction (15%) and child's disability (8%) were the next largest categories.
• The number of section 47 enquiries starting in the year ending 31 March 2019 was 201,200, an increase from 198,100 the previous year.
• The number of initial stage child protection conferences (ICPCs) decreased to 77,400 from 79,500 in 2018, which reverses the upward trend seen from 2013 to 2018.
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Access the full data here.

First published 31 October 2019