§ Lord Smith of Leighasked Her Majesty's Government:
What information they have about the increasing number of children recorded as "at risk"; and whether the recently announced increase in funding matches this growing demand. [HL242]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland)The most recent information available on the number of children and young people on child protection registers, i.e. who are considered to be at continuing risk of significant harm and for whom there is a child protection plan, may be found in the publicationReferrals, Assessments and Children and Young People on Child Protection Registers, England—Year ending 31 March 2002. The publication can be obtained from the Internet at: http://www.doh.gov.u1c/nublic/cpr2002.htm.
The number of children and young people on child protection registers at 31 March for the past 10 years are shown below:
Children and young people on child protection registers at 31 March 1992 to 2002 England Numbers All children1 1992 38,600 1993 32,500 1994 34,900 1995 35,000 1996 32,400 1997 32,400 1998 31,600 1999 31,900 2000 30,300 2001 26,800 2002 25,700 Source
CPR3 return
1 The "all children" figures include unborn children.
This data show that the number of children and young people on child protection registers has been falling since 1995 (apart from a slight increase in 1999). At the same time, funding for children's personal social services has risen, as shown in the table below.
70WA
Children's Personal Social Services Revenue Provisions 1993–2004—2004–05 Year Children's SSA/FSSs £m Children's Grants£m Children's Total previous £m Increase over previous Year % 1993–94 1,681.4 — 1,681.4 1994–95 1,737.5 — 1,737.5 3.3 1995–96 1,737.7 — 1,737.7 0.0 1996–97 1,754.7 — 1,754.7 1.0 1997–98 1,754.7 — 1,754.7 0.0 1998–99 1,829.3 — 1,829.3 4.3 1999–2000 1,900.0 75.0 1,975.0 8.0 2000–01 1,997.7 120.0 2,117.7 7.2
Children's Personal Social Services Revenue Provisions 1993–2004—2004–05 Year Children's SSA/FSSs £m Children's Grants£m Children's Total previous £m Increase over previous Year% 2001–02 1,832.8 419.0 2.251.8 6.3 2002–03 1,909.5 488.0 2.397.5 6.5 2003–04 3,038.4 635.4 3,673.8 9.3 2004–05 3,737.4 257.6 3,995.0 8.7 1 after adjusting to exclude resource equalisation.