§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many children appeared on child protection registers in Wales in each year since 1981.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesInformation on the number of children in Wales on child protection registers was not centrally collected prior to 1988. Information for the years from 1988 to 1991 is given in the following table:
Year ended 31 March Number of children 1988 1,903 1989 2,062 1990 2,302 1991 2,460 Information on the registers is used by local authority social services departments to manage their child protection work. It is not intended specifically to establish the extent of child abuse and comparisons between years may be affected by changes in the administrative arrangements of local authorities.