Concern over decrease in child protection plans citing sexual abuse

The number of child protection plans for child sexual abuse fell by six per cent in in 2020/21, following a 12 per cent reduction the previous year, according to the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre).

This is equivalent to 500 fewer children aged under 18 placed on a child protection plan due to sexual abuse than two years earlier, it adds.

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Just one twentieth of children referred to children’s services over concerns about child sexual abuse or exploitation have been placed on a child protection plan citing the issues, according to the Child sexual abuse in 2020/21: Trends in official data report.

Local authority children’s services in England recorded concerns about child sexual abuse in 29,640 assessments of children and concerns about child sexual exploitation in 16,830 assessments in 2020/21, however, this led to the creation of just 2,450 child protection plans under the category of sexual abuse. 

“The continued falling trend in child protection plans due to sexual abuse is of great concern,” according to the CSA Centre which notes “stark contrast between rates reported in local areas when compared to the local child population”.

Nearly two thirds of local authorities in England – including the majority of those in inner London – placed five children or fewer on a child protection plan under the category of sexual abuse for every 10,000 living in the local area. 

Meanwhile, two local authority children services identified no children for whom they had concerns about sexual abuse whilst five local authorities identified more than 70 for every 10,000 children living in the area.

However, police forces in England and Wales recorded 89,200 identifiable child sexual abuse offences, including offences involving child sexual abuse images in 2020/21, according to the report.

Ian Dean, director of the CSA Centre, said: “There is a pressing need for local leaders to understand and address the large geographical variation in the identification of child sexual abuse, so that where children live does not affect how likely it is that their abuse is identified, detected or responded to.

“We need to look beyond the numbers to really understand what children's experiences are. Areas with low numbers of recorded cases may assume they have low levels of sexual abuse but we know from prevalence data that this is simply not the case.”

The CSA Centre is calling for better training of all professionals around child sexual abuse and exploitation.

“Without greater knowledge, skills and confidence across the children’s workforce we will continue to fail the vast majority of children who are sexually abused,” Dean added.