§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many(a) new born babies, (b)infants aged between one and four years and (c)children aged over five years have been taken into care by social services in each of the last 10 years. [152115]
§ Margaret Hodge[holding answer 30 January 2004]: The number of (a) new born babies, (b) infants aged between one and four years and (c) children aged over five years who were taken into care by local authorities in each of the last 10 years is shown in the table.
Children who were taken into care during the years ending
31 March 1993 to 2003, by age group—England
Numbers Age on entering care Year 1.2All Children
Under 1 1 to 4 5 and over 1993 29,100 3,000 6,000 20,200 1994 31,300 3,200 6,500 21,700 1995 32,500 3,400 6,300 22,800 1996 32,100 3,300 6,200 22,600 1997 29,900 3,300 5,800 20,800 1998 29,700 3,200 5,700 20,800 1999 28,400 3,500 5,500 19,500 2000 28,600 3,700 5,200 19,600 2001 25,100 3,700 4,600 16,900 2002 24,600 3,900 4,500 16,200 1 Only the first occasion on which a child entered care in the year has been counted. 2 Figures for children in care in this table exclude agreed series of short term placements. Of the 24,600 children who entered care during the year ending 31 March 2002, 68 per cent. were looked after under voluntary agreements (Section 20 of the 1719W Children Act 1989), 17 per cent. were under a care order, and 15 per cent. were looked after under other legal statuses.
For both the Under 1 and 1–4 age groups, over half the children who entered care during the year ending 31 March 2002 were under voluntary agreements, 25–30 per cent. were under care orders and just under 20 per cent. were under other legal statuses. The pattern is slightly different for the 5 and over age group, with three quarters of the children entering under voluntary agreements, 11 per cent. under care orders, and 14 per cent. under other legal statuses.
§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children aged(a) three to six months and (b) six months to one year entered local authority care in (i) Greater London and (ii) each London borough in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [158762]
§ Margaret Hodge[holding answer 4 March 2004]: The information requested is shown in the following table.
31 March 2002, aged 3–6 months and 6 months to 1 year, London
1720W
Number Age on entering care 3–6 months 6 months–1 year Inner London 40 55 Camden 0 0 City of London 0 0 Greenwich — 5 Hackney 10 10 Hammersmith and Fulham — 0 Islington 10 — Kensington and Chelsea 0 — Lambeth — 5 Lewisham — 0 Southwark — — Tower Hamlets 0 0 Wandsworth 0 10 Westminster — 15 Outer London 35 70 Barking and Dagenham 0 5 Barnet 0 0 Bexley — 0 Brent — 5 Bromley — 0 Croydon 0 10 Ealing — 0 Enfield 0 — Haringey 0 0 Harrow 0 — Havering — 5 Hillingdon — — Hounslow 5 5 Kingston Upon Thames 0 0 Merton — — Newham 5 15 Redbridge 0 0 Richmond Upon Thames 0 0 Sutton 0 0 Waltham Forest 0 — Notes: 1. Figures for children looked after in this table exclude agreed series of short term placement. 2. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5. Numbers between 1 and 5 are suppressed (—). 3. The figures are based on a one-third sample of children. A zero in the table means there were no children in the sample.