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Councils face surge in child protection demands

2 mins read Social Care
Referrals to children's social care teams are up 16.5 per cent nationally, and by a massive 269 per cent in one local authority, a survey of 105 councils has revealed.

The statistics, which lay bare the true impact of safeguarding pressures on councils, were collected by the Association of Directors of Children's Services, in an attempt to calculate the financial impact of current child protection concerns.

They reveal the number of children subject to a child protection plan over the past two years has increased by 32.9 per cent nationally.

In 72 local authorities, the numbers rose by more than 10 per cent and in 28 councils by more than 50 per cent.

The survey also found that initial contacts between social workers and children leapt up by 34.6 per cent and initial assessments increased by 23.4 per cent. Ten local authorities reported that numbers of initial assessments had risen by more than 100 per cent.

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