| Media and Communications Group |
28 March 2001 | News
Release
CHILDREN LOOKED AFTER IN THE YEAR TO 31 MARCH 2000This
is a National Statistics publication This document is also available in
pdf format (113k) Statistics on children looked after by local authorities
covering the year ended 31 March 2000 have been published today by the Scottish
Executive. The main points are: - Just over 11,300 children were
looked after by local authorities at 31 March 2000. This compares to 11,200 children
as at 31 March 1999, an increase of 1 per cent.
- 58 per cent of all children
looked after were boys and 40 per cent were aged between 12 and 15.
- 48
per cent of all children looked after were under a supervision requirement at
home at 31 March 2000. In addition, 29 per cent were under a supervision requirement
away from home and 12 per cent were classed as ‘accommodated under Section
25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995’.
- Just under half of all
children looked after lived at home with their parents. Those living with foster
carers and in residential accommodation accounted for 27 and 14 per cent, respectively,
of the total.
- The proportion of children looked after in the population
varied considerably between local authority areas, with East Renfrewshire having
the fewest and Glasgow City the most, at 4 and 19 per 1,000 population aged 0-17,
respectively.
- There were almost 4,800 instances of children starting
to be looked after in the year to 31 March 2000. 58 per cent of these cases involved
boys and 41 per cent involved children aged between 12 and 15.
- In 46 per
cent of these cases, the child’s most recent statutory reason for being looked
after was that they were under a supervision requirement at home. A further 25
per cent were accommodated under Section 25.
- In an incomplete return,
23 out of 32 local authorities (covering 74 per cent of the population aged 0-17)
reported a total of 1,700 children who were looked after at 31 March 2000 in a
planned series of short term placements. These children are additional to the
figures quoted above.
The following tables are available: Table
1 Number of Children Looked After as at 31 March 2000 : Breakdown
by Gender and Age Group.
Table 2 Number
of Children Looked After as at 31 March 2000 : Breakdown by Local Authority Area
and Age Group.
Table 3 Number of Children
Looked After as at 31 March 2000 : Breakdown by Current Statutory Reason for Being
Looked After.
Table 4 Number of Children
Looked After as at 31 March 2000 : Breakdown by Type of Accommodation.
Table
5 Number of Children Starting to be Looked After in the Year to 31
March 2000 : Breakdown by Gender and Age Group.
Table
6 Number of Children Starting to be Looked After in the Year to 31
March 2000 : Breakdown by Latest Statutory Reason for Being Looked After.
Table 7 Number of Children Looked After in
a Planned Series of Short Term Placements as at 31 March 2000 : Breakdown by Gender
and Age Group. NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS 1. Local authorities have
responsibilities under The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to provide support to
vulnerable young people. Some children will be looked after for only a short period
of time, whereas others may be looked after for several short periods of time,
and some for substantial periods of time. Local authorities regularly review the
range of provision of services made to each child, and these vary considerably
from one child to another. 2. Section 25 of the 1995 Act relates to the
provision of accommodation for children looked after, which generally includes
placing them with another family or in a specialist residential establishment.
Local authorities have a duty to provide accommodation in certain circumstances,
for example, if nobody has parental responsibility for a child. In addition, they
have a discretionary power to provide accommodation if it would safeguard
or promote the child’s welfare. 3. The relevant provisions of The
Children (Scotland) Act 1995 came into operation on 1 April 1997. Previously,
local authorities had similar responsibilities under the Social Work (Scotland)
Act 1968, under which children were referred to as ‘children in care or under
supervision’. However, under The Children (Scotland) Act 1995, the terminology
now refers to ‘children looked after’. 4. The information in
this News Release was obtained from the statistical return CLAS. Local authorities
were asked to complete this form for the first time for the year ended 31 March
2000, replacing a shorter interim return on children looked after. The CLAS form
asks for detailed information on the number of children looked after at 31 March
and also the numbers starting and ceasing to be looked after in the year to 31
March. 5. All 32 local authorities were able to provide the Scottish
Executive with data on children looked after. However, some were unable to supply
all of the data requested. Where this was the case, the remaining data was estimated
for these authorities and then subsequently used in the calculation of Scotland
level data. 6. The CLAS return also asked local authorities to separately
provide information on the numbers of children looked after at 31 March on a planned
series of short term placements. All of the figures quoted in the bullet points
in this News Release and in the supporting Tables 1-6 exclude children on a planned
series of short-term placements. 7. Comparisons between the 31 March
2000 total for children looked after and previous year’s figures should be
treated with caution. The introduction of the new CLAS return has led to inevitable
inconsistencies with previous years. In addition, some local authorities are now
better able to separate children on short term placements in their children looked
after figures, and others report that they have improved systems in place for
accurately reflecting all children looked after by them. 8. There is
no bulletin publication for these figures. Supporting tables are, however, available
on request. This News Release and the supporting tables are available on the Scottish
Executive web site (www.scotland.gov.uk).
Media can obtain faxed copies of the tables by contacting David Gow on 0131-244-2952. 9. This
is a National Statistics publication. National Statistics are produced to
high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice.
They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer
needs. They are produced free from any political interference. 10. Public
enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this News Release should
be addressed to Dave Sorensen, Scottish Executive Education Department, Area 1-A,
Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ (telephone 0131 244 0322 or e-mail dave.sorensen@scotland.gov.uk). Contact:
Fiona Wilson 0131-244-2910
28 March 2001
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