Latest Children's Social Work Statistics published

Date: 8th April 2024
Category: Civil Rights and Freedoms, General measures of implementation

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The Scottish Government has released the latest official annual Children's Social Work Statistics, covering child protection processes from August 2022 to July 2023. Key findings include a 4% increase in the number of children on the Child Protection Register compared to the previous year, with 5% of them not yet born. Additionally, there was a 2% decrease in the number of children registered onto the Child Protection Register during the same period.

A Case Conference, an Inter-agency meeting, is convened when there are concerns that a child is or may be at risk of significant harm. This meeting works to ensure relevant information is shared to carry out a collective assessment of risk, and to agree a plan to minimise risk of harm to the child.

The most common concerns identified at Case Conferences of children registered during the year 2022-23 were recorded as: domestic abuse (16%), neglect (15%), parental mental health problems (15%), parental substance misuse (15%), and emotional abuse (12%).

For statistics from 2023 onwards, statistics relating to children requiring the support of Secure Care, the needs of all ‘Looked After’ children and those eligible for Aftercare are being published separately from the child protection statistics.

• Click here to read the full report