Council data gathered by the association suggests there were an estimated 81,700 children in council care on 31 March this year, compared with 78,150 on the same date in 2019 and 75,420 in 2018, according to Department for Education figures.
This represents an increase of 8.2 per cent over the past two years.
The figures – included in interim findings from the ADCS’s latest Safeguarding Pressures study – indicate the rate of looked-after children in England has risen to 68 per 10,000 children, up from 65 per 10,000 the year before.
The interim report provides key headlines of the pressures faced by local authorities during 2019/20 while also including a focus on activity in the first three months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The provisional survey findings also indicate that the rise in looked-after children numbers continued during the first national lockdown. Analysis of regional datasets suggest there were three per cent more children in care on 30 June 2020 than on the same date the year before.
Of the 113 authorities that provided data, 58 saw an increase of two per cent, while three reported a surge of 20 per cent. A further 27 saw a decrease, with one authority reporting a 10 per cent fall.
This rise came despite authorities reporting there was a six per cent fall in the number of children starting to be looked after between April and June 2020 compared with the same three-month period in 2019.
In addition, referrals to children’s social care fell 12.6 per cent over the same period, the report states.
However, delays in the court system as a result of the pandemic lockdown were blamed for a 10 per cent decrease in the number of children leaving care in the first quarter of 2020/21.
Of the 112 councils that provided data, 84 per cent saw a decrease in the number of children ceasing to be looked after, with 14 reporting a 50 per cent fall.
There was a four per cent reduction in the number of public law cases in the family courts compared with the equivalent quarter in 2019 and a 52 per cent reduction in the number of final Adoption Orders made.
This is the seventh phase of the Safeguarding Pressures study, meaning data can be compared over a 12-year period.
The interim study draws together survey responses from 79 per cent (119) of all local authorities in England, covering 84 per cent of England’s child population. This, together with existing data, provides an insight into the safeguarding related pressures facing children’s services across the country.
ADCS president Jenny Coles said: “This interim report highlights many of the issues that the association has been raising with government for many years.
“The pressures on local authority children’s services are very real, although our workforce has worked tirelessly to support children and families during incredibly difficult circumstances, this research shows that the pandemic has had a drastic impact on our work with families.
“The true impact of the pandemic on children’s services is only starting to emerge and will remain with us throughout the next year and beyond.”
Judith Blake, chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, said: “This report reinforces the significant budget reductions councils have experienced and increasing numbers of children needing urgent help. As the impact of the pandemic becomes clear, councils expect to see a significant rise in referrals to children’s social care and demand for wider children’s support services.
“If we are to avoid families falling into crisis and causing long-term damage to the prospects of children and young people, we need to ensure councils have enough funding to reinvest in the preventative and early-help services that children, young people and families need, as soon as they need it."
