Quarterly child protection statistics

1. Children on the child protection register

At 30 June 2023, 2,136 children were on the child protection register in Northern Ireland, a decrease of 6.4% since 30 June 2022 (Figure 1). Table 1 sets out the children on the child protection register by age group and Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust at 30 June 2023 and Table 2 shows the trend by HSC Trust between 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2023.

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 30 June 2023 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 June 2023)

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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 30 June 2023

HSC Trust	Under 1 year	1 to 4 years	5 to 11 years	12 to 15 years	16 years and over	Total
Belfast	42	116	152	65	16	391
Northern	50	95	191	95	26	457
South Eastern	30	73	128	55	15	301
Southern	40	117	215	131	34	537
Western	33	107	145	120	45	450
Northern Ireland	195	508	831	466	136	2,136

Table 2: Children on the child protection register by Health and Social Care Trust, quarter ending 30 June 2022 to 30 June 2023

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2a Count at QE

Figures at quarter ending (QE).
HSC Trust	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22	QE 31 Mar 23	QE 30 Jun 23
Belfast	367	407	401	395	391
Northern	488	530	471	464	457
South Eastern	345	347	321	312	301
Southern	532	531	499	492	537
Western	551	590	534	508	450
Northern Ireland	2,283	2,405	2,226	2,171	2,136

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

Rate is per 10,000 population aged under 18.
HSC Trust	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22	QE 31 Mar 23	QE 30 Jun 23
Belfast	47.4	52.5	51.7	51.0	50.4
Northern	44.7	48.5	43.1	42.5	41.8
South Eastern	42.2	42.5	39.3	38.2	36.8
Southern	53.5	53.4	50.2	49.5	54.0
Western	75.3	80.7	73.0	69.5	61.5
Northern Ireland	51.8	54.5	50.5	49.2	48.4

Table 3: Children on the child protection register by category of abuse and Health and Social Care Trust at 30 June 2023

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	[s]	[s]	0	5	[s]	13
Neglect and physical abuse	140	61	99	146	20	466
Neglect and sexual abuse	8	[s]	[s]	10	21	52
Physical and sexual abuse	[s]	21	[s]	24	[s]	59
Neglect only	112	140	79	114	242	687
Physical abuse only	110	164	80	182	25	561
Sexual abuse only	7	27	11	29	27	101
Emotional abuse only	9	34	21	27	106	197
Total	391	457	301	537	450	2,136

Table 4: Children on the child protection register by duration on the register and Health and Social Care Trust at 30 June 2023

HSC Trust	Under 3 months	3 to 6 months	6 months to 1 year	1 to 2 years	2 years or more	Total
Belfast	95	91	109	62	34	391
Northern	99	85	135	103	35	457
South Eastern	78	66	70	58	29	301
Southern	159	89	153	89	47	537
Western	84	72	120	108	66	450
Northern Ireland	515	403	587	420	211	2,136

Table 5: Children on the child protection register by legal status at 30 June 2023

Note: [s] indicates figures that have been suppressed to avoid personal disclosure.
Legal status	Northern Ireland
Accommodated (article 21)	91
Interim care order (article 57)	39
Care order (article 50 or 59)	19
Deemed care order (paras 11 and 30 of Sch 8)	0
Interim supervision order (article 57)	10
Other legal status	46
No legal status	1,931
Total	2,136

2. Child protection referrals

At 30 June 2023, 348 child protection referrals were received in Northern Ireland; an increase of 8.8% since 30 June 2022. Table 6 sets out the child protection referrals received by source of referral by HSC Trust at 30 June 2023 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 30 June 2022 to 30 June 2023.

Figure 2: Number of referrals to child protection register received at quarter end (March 2010 to June 2023)

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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 30 June 2023

Note: [s] indicates figures that have been suppressed to avoid personal disclosure.
Source of referral	Northern Ireland
Police	108
School or EWO	58
Voluntary org	[s]
GP	[s]
Social services	57
Community nursing	5
Relative, neighbour or friend	12
Hospital	10
Self	[s]
Anonymous	5
Other source of referral	87
Total	348

The trend data on the number of child protection referrals received between 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2023 by HSC Trust are set out in Tables 7a and 7b, and the number of significant events that led to child protection investigations between 30 Jun 2022 and 30 June 2023 are set out in Table 7c.

Tables 7a and b: Child protection referrals received by Health and Social Care Trust quarter ending 30 June 2022 to 30 June 2023

Select the tab to view count or rate.

7a Count at QE

Figures at quarter ending (QE).
HSC Trust	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22	QE 31 Mar 23	QE 30 Jun 23
Belfast	66	38	48	45	40
Northern	95	90	69	123	85
South Eastern	58	69	57	39	61
Southern	37	44	43	62	44
Western	64	99	89	130	118
Northern Ireland	320	340	306	399	348

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

Rate is per 10,000 population aged under 18.
HSC Trust	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22	QE 31 Mar 23	QE 30 Jun 23
Belfast	8.5	4.9	6.2	5.8	5.2
Northern	8.7	8.2	6.3	11.3	7.8
South Eastern	7.1	8.4	7.0	4.8	7.5
Southern	3.7	4.4	4.3	6.2	4.4
Western	8.8	13.5	12.2	17.8	16.1
Northern Ireland	7.3	7.7	6.9	9.0	7.9

Table 7c: The number of significant events that subsequently led to child protection investigations by Health and Social Care Trust quarter ending 30 June 2022 to 30 June 2023

HSC Trust	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22	QE 31 Mar 23	QE 30 Jun 23
Belfast	71	95	96	108	93
Northern	153	141	108	111	129
South Eastern	70	78	52	75	83
Southern	170	148	178	175	214
Western	182	197	120	130	131
Northern Ireland	646	659	554	599	650

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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