WIREDGOV

Statistics on child protection in Scotland in 2006-07 were published today.

Headline messages are:

• In 2006-07, there were 11,960 child protection referrals, of which 47 per cent were for boys, 50 per cent were for girls, and two per cent were for children whose gender was not known (largely due to being unborn)
• Thirty-nine per cent of child protection referrals resulted in an inter-agency case conference in 2006-07. This compares to 38 per cent in 2005-06 and 36 per cent in 2004-05
• Over 80 per cent of children who were subject to a case conference were living at home prior to being referred
• For eighty-five per cent of children who were subject to a case conference, the primary known/suspected abuser was the child's birth parent (where this was known)
• Of the 4,608 case conferences, 68 per cent resulted in the child being placed on the local child protection register compared to 70per cent in the previous year
• In 2006-07, the number of registrations on to child protection registers as a result of emotional abuse were up by 26 per cent, and by physical neglect were up by 21 per cent. The number of registrations due to sexual abuse were down by 11 per cent
• Twelve per cent of registrations on to child protection registers in 2006-07 were of children who were known to have been previously on a child protection register. This compares with 14per cent in 2005-06
• The number of de-registrations from child protection registers between April 1, 2006 and March 31, 2007 was 3,084. Nearly 80 per cent of these de-registrations were for children who had been on the register for less than one year
• As at March 31, 2007, there were 2,593 children on Child Protection Registers, an increase of 13 per cent compared with the previous year. A similar number of boys and girls were on child protection registers, and just over 80 per cent of children were under the age of 11 years old
• At March 31, 2007, 49 per cent of all children on local child protection registers were registered because of physical neglect, 23 per cent because of physical injury, 18 per cent because of emotional abuse and nine per cent because of sexual abuse

Related Information

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/09/20161825/0