DfE statistics on Children Looked After by Local Authorities in England
The latest national statistics on Children looked after by Local Authorities in England (including adoption and care leavers), year ending 31 March 2010, were recently produced by the Department for Education and were released on 30th September 2010.
This data reports progress on seven Local Authority indicators (previously called National Indicators under the previous government).
Key points:
- There were 64,400 looked after children as at 31 March 2010, an increase of 6 per cent from 2009 and an increase of 7 per cent since 2006.
- 27,800 children started to be looked after during the year ending 31 March 2010. This is an increase of 8 per cent from the year ending 31 March 2009 and 13 percent from the year ending 31 March 2006. Of these children 9,500 are classed as being taken into care (see Technical Note 12).
- 25,100 children ceased to be looked after during the year ending 31 March 2010. This is similar to last year's figure of 25,000.
- Overall, the main reason why social care services first engaged with children who started to be looked after during the year was because of abuse or neglect (52 per cent). This percentage has increased since 2009.
- 73 per cent of children who were looked after at 31 March 2010 were in a foster placement. This is an increase from 69 per cent in 2006. There were 2,300 children placed for adoption at 31 March 2010.
- There were 3,400 Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) who were looked after at 31 March 2010. This is a decrease of 12 per cent from 2009.
- There were 350 mothers aged 12 and over who were looked after at 31 March 2010. This is the same as the previous year and an increase of 18 per cent from the 2006 figure.
Minister Tim Loughton commented:
‘It is vital that the most vulnerable children in our society are protected and for many children, care will be the best option. But the care system must work better for them. We want to see local authorities working more effectively to place children – whether that’s in foster care, residential care or adoption. These children deserve stability and security but there are still too many delays, particularly in placing children for adoption. Over the coming months, a new adoption advisory group will be considering some of these issues, and in March we will publish slimmed-down guidance to help LAs improve their care planning.’
