A freedom of information request to local authorities found that, of the 109 councils that responded, the number of children in care increased 1.26 per cent between March 2014 and March 2015.
Extrapolated across all local authorities in England, the findings indicate that the number of children in care rose from 64,470 in March 2010 to 69,707 in March 2015 – a rise of 5,237, or 8.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, the number of vulnerable children placed on child protection plans – put in place by children’s social work teams to try to ensure their safety – rose by close to a third (32.6 per cent) under the coalition – from 39,100 as of March 2010, to 51,855 as of March 2015.
And the number of Section 47 enquiries – which are conducted by social work teams to decide whether children are at risk of abuse or neglect – increased by 42.5 per cent from 111,700 in 2010/11 to 159,275 in 2014/15.
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