Quarterly child protection statistics

1. Children on the child protection register

At 31 December 2022, 2,226 children were on the child protection register in Northern Ireland, a decrease of 2% since 31 December 2021 (Figure 1). Table 1 sets out the children on the child protection register by age group and Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust at 31 December 2022 and Table 2 shows the trend by HSC Trust between 31 December 2021 and 31 December 2022.

The number of children on the child protection register by category of abuse, length of time on the register, and legal status by HSC Trust at 31 December 2022 are set out in Table 3, Table 4 and Table 5 respectively.

Figure 1: Children on the child protection register at quarter end (March 2010 to December 2022)

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Between 31 March 2010 and 30 June 2014 there was a general decrease in the number of children on the child protection register, followed by a gradual increase in figures until 31 December 2018. Since then, the number of children on the child protection register in Northern Ireland has remained relatively stable.

Table 1: Children on the child protection register by age and Health and Social Care Trust at 31 December 2022

HSC Trust	Under 1 year	1 to 4 years	5 to 11 years	12 to 15 years	16 years and over	Total
Belfast	53	120	140	76	12	401
Northern	46	122	175	98	30	471
South Eastern	30	89	120	63	19	321
Southern	49	117	187	114	32	499
Western	44	132	190	127	41	534
Northern Ireland	222	580	812	478	134	2,226

Table 2: Children on the child protection register by Health and Social Care Trust, quarter ending 31 December 2021 to 31 December 2022

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2a Count at QE

Figures at quarter ending (QE).
HSC Trust	QE 30 Dec 21	QE 31 Mar 22	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22
Belfast	350	345	367	407	401
Northern	493	522	488	530	471
South Eastern	330	359	345	347	321
Southern	584	591	532	531	499
Western	515	529	551	590	534
Northern Ireland	2,272	2,346	2,283	2,405	2,226

2b Rate (per 10,000 population under 18) at QE

Rate is per 10,000 population aged under 18.
HSC Trust	QE 30 Dec 21	QE 31 Mar 22	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22
Belfast	45.2	44.5	47.4	52.5	51.7
Northern	45.1	47.8	44.7	48.5	43.1
South Eastern	40.4	43.9	42.2	42.5	39.3
Southern	58.7	59.4	53.5	53.4	50.2
Western	70.4	72.3	75.3	80.7	73.0
Northern Ireland	51.5	53.2	51.8	54.5	50.5

Table 3: Children on the child protection register by category of abuse and Health and Social Care Trust at 31 December 2022

Note: [s] indicates figures that have been suppressed to avoid personal disclosure.
Category of abuse	Belfast	Northern	South Eastern	Southern	Western	Northern Ireland
Neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse	0	5	[s]	6	[s]	16
Neglect and physical abuse	126	89	107	109	16	447
Neglect and sexual abuse	[s]	10	[s]	5	18	39
Physical and sexual abuse	[s]	14	[s]	27	[s]	50
Neglect only	129	121	81	112	240	683
Physical abuse only	100	164	76	201	24	565
Sexual abuse only	14	30	10	22	42	118
Emotional abuse only	29	38	40	17	184	308
Total	401	471	321	499	534	2,226

Table 4: Children on the child protection register by duration on the register and Health and Social Care Trust at 31 December 2022

HSC Trust	Under 3 months	3 to 6 months	6 months to 1 year	1 to 2 years	2 years or more	Total
Belfast	104	84	89	86	38	401
Northern	110	97	132	98	34	471
South Eastern	59	67	87	67	41	321
Southern	120	97	117	110	55	499
Western	93	115	135	124	67	534
Northern Ireland	486	460	560	485	235	2,226

Table 5: Children on the child protection register by legal status at 31 December 2022

Note: [s] indicates figures that have been suppressed to avoid personal disclosure.
Legal status	Northern Ireland
Accommodated (article 21)	92
Interim care order (article 57)	63
Care order (article 50 or 59)	16
Deemed care order (paras 11 and 30 of Sch 8)	[s]
Interim supervision order (article 57)	[s]
Other legal status	34
No legal status	2,020
Total	2,226

2. Child protection referrals

At 31 December 2022, 306 child protection referrals were received in Northern Ireland; NO CHANGE of 0% since 31 December 2021. Table 6 sets out the child protection referrals received by source of referral by HSC Trust at 31 December 2022 and Table 7a and 7b show the number and rate of child protection referrals and Table 7c shows the number of significant events that led to child protection investigations by HSC Trust from quarter ending 31 December 2021 to 31 December 2022.

Figure 2: Number of referrals to child protection register received at quarter end (March 2010 to December 2022)

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Leading up to 2020, a change in reporting methodology of child protection referrals has meant referrals for children already on the social work caseload are now coded as Significant Event rather than a child protection referral. This has resulted in a series change with a sharp reduction in child protection referrals. The updated reporting methodology has been applied to HSC Trust IT systems at different times; therefore, there is no exact timestamp on the change in series.

Table 6: Child protection referrals by source of referral quarter ending 31 December 2022

Note: [s] indicates figures that have been suppressed to avoid personal disclosure.
Source of referral	Northern Ireland
Police	92
School or EWO	62
Voluntary org	0
GP	[s]
Social services	44
Community nursing	[s]
Relative, neighbour or friend	12
Hospital	16
Self	0
Anonymous	0
Other source of referral	77
Total	306

The trend data on the number of child protection referrals received between 31 December 2021 and 31 December 2022 by HSC Trust are set out in Tables 7a and 7b, and the number of significant events that led to child protection investigations between 31 Dec 2021 and 31 December 2022 are set out in Table 7c.

Tables 7a and b: Child protection referrals received by Health and Social Care Trust quarter ending 31 December 2021 to 31 December 2022

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7a Count at QE

Figures at quarter ending (QE).
HSC Trust	QE 31 Dec 21	QE 31 Mar 22	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22
Belfast	36	42	66	38	48
Northern	71	105	95	90	69
South Eastern	74	61	58	69	57
Southern	29	100	37	44	43
Western	96	83	64	99	89
Northern Ireland	306	391	320	340	306

7b Rate (per 10,000 population under 18) at QE

Rate is per 10,000 population aged under 18.
HSC Trust	QE 31 Dec 21	QE 31 Mar 22	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22
Belfast	4.6	5.4	8.5	4.9	6.2
Northern	6.5	9.6	8.7	8.2	6.3
South Eastern	9.1	7.5	7.1	8.4	7.0
Southern	2.9	10.1	3.7	4.4	4.3
Western	13.1	11.3	8.8	13.5	12.2
Northern Ireland	6.9	8.9	7.3	7.7	6.9

Table 7c: The number of significant events that subsequently led to child protection investigations by Health and Social Care Trust quarter ending 31 December 2021 to 31 December 2022

HSC Trust	QE 31 Dec 21	QE 31 Mar 22	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22
Belfast	125	87	71	95	96
Northern	115	145	153	141	108
South Eastern	69	79	70	78	52
Southern	166	156	170	148	178
Western	441	351	182	197	120
Northern Ireland	823	818	646	659	554

3. Download data

The data presented in the figures and tables within this publication can be downloaded in excel format by clicking the button below.

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Quarterly data: 33KB

Metadata

The statistics presented in these tables derive from children order returns CPR2, CPR3, CPR4 and CPR5 provided by each of the five Health and Social Care Trusts (HSC) in Northern Ireland to the SPPG (Strategic Planning and Performance Group) as well as Community Information Branch within the Department of Health. These returns are part of a wider set of annual Children Order returns which together provide statistical activity counts relating to child protection, children in need, looked after children, and children’s day care. The wider set of returns are used to produce the annual publication Children’s social care statistics in Northern Ireland, which records children’s social care data at 31 March and for year ending 31 March. A technical annex and definitions used in these tables can be found in the above publication.

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