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Written question asked by Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour) on Thursday, 7 February 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 February 2019. It was answered by Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative) on Friday, 15 February 2019 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Children: Greater Manchester

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of looked after children, child protection plans and children in need throughout (a) Salford and (b) Greater Manchester in the last five years.

Answer

The department publishes information on looked after children, child protection plans and children in need in local authorities, including those within the Greater Manchester area, in the Local Authority Interactive Tool. This can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-interactive-tool-lait.

There are a range of factors that contribute to trends in demand for children’s social care including deprivation in different local authorities. The most deprived local authorities have more looked after children (per 10,000 0-17 year olds), and these rates have grown faster, than the least deprived local authorities. The most common factors that present themselves in children’s social care assessments are domestic abuse and mental health. Data on this is available in Table C3 of statistical release ‘Characteristics of children in need 2017-18’ at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2017-to-2018.

In preparation for the Spending Review, to help ensure decisions are based on the best available evidence, the government is working with the sector to develop a sharper and more granular picture of demand for children’s services.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
218325
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Children Disadvantaged Greater Manchester Protection
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk