Councils report influx of referrals to children’s services

A survey of local authorities found that, between July and September, an average of 634 vulnerable young people a day were being referred to councils’ children’s services, with local authorities reporting an increase in demand for mental health and family services since the outbreak of coronavirus.

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Council leaders say they are now seeing the effects of an “invisible crisis” over the spring, due to the emotional and financial impact of the virus.

The research comes as latest Department for Education figures show that the number of children in need in England dropped to its lowest in eight years during the first national lockdown.

There were 389,260 children in need as of 31 March, a decrease of 2.6 per cent from the same point in 2019, according to new data.

This was a rate of 323.7 per 10,000 children, down from 334.2 last year and the lowest rate in the last eight years, the DfE data shows.

Over half (56 per cent) of children in need at 31 March had abuse or neglect as their primary need identified at assessment. 

Abuse or neglect remains the most common primary need identified at assessment, followed by family dysfunction (14 per cent) and family in acute stress (eight per cent). 

This decrease “may be explained by the noticeable decrease in the number of referrals in March 2020, compared to previous years”, DfE states.

Overall, local authorities have received 642,980 referrals to children’s services during the year, a decrease of one per cent compared with 2019, the figures also show.

Meanwhile, there were 51,510 children in need on child protection plans, a decrease of 1.4 per cent from the same point in 2019 - a rate of 42.8 per 10,000 children, down from 43.7 last year.

Keith Glazier, children and young people spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said: “The impact of the pandemic will be far reaching for all of us, and especially for young children who lost months of schooling but also safeguarding and support earlier this year. Over that period, we feared an invisible crisis and that abuse and other issues were going unchecked behind closed doors and since the first lockdown has ended, we have seen a rise in referrals.

“The emotional and financial trauma of the pandemic on families is clear to see in the referrals since the country started opening back up in the summer, with domestic abuse and neglect the two main reasons that our help is sought. Worryingly, we are also seeing a rise in mental health concerns and alcohol abuse – both of which can be attributed to the impact of coronavirus.”