Friday 25 October 2013

Shocking Stats


I have been wrestling with the Ofsted Social Care Report 2012-2013 (http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/social-care-annual-report-201213) that was published last week. I will complete my post on it shortly, but I have stayed my hand and not rushed to judgement. So please watch this space.

One thing I can address now is some interesting information arranged on page 9 of the report. Extracted from government statistics the volumes of children’s social care work in 2012 are compared with those in 2008. In the table below I reproduce these together with a % change column that does not occur in Ofsted’s table.

Some of the figures are quite shocking. Although there has only been a modest increase in referrals and the number of children looked after, initial assessments were up by more than 40% over the four year period; Section 47 Enquiries were up by more than 60%; Core Assessments were up by 110% and the number of children made subject to Child Protection Plans were up by nearly 50%.

No wonder services are experiencing strains and stresses!

Sadly I can find no accurate estimates for changes in the size of the children’s social care workforce during the period. If anybody knows where this data might be found, please email me on chris-mills-child-protection-blog@gmx.co.uk


Volumes of children’s social care work in 2012 compared with those in 2008, adapted from Ofsted Social Care Report 2012-2013, page 9


2008
2012
% Change
Referrals
538,500
605,100
12.4
Initial Assessment completed
319,900
451,500
41.1
S.47 started
76,800
124,590
62.2
Core Assessment completed
105,100
220,670
110.0
Children made subject to CP Plans
29,200
42,850
47.0
Children looked after on 31/3
59,500
67,050
12.7