Quarterly child protection statistics

1. Children on the child protection register

At 31 March 2023, 2,171 children were on the child protection register in Northern Ireland, a decrease of 7.5% since 31 March 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 31 March 2023 and Table 2 shows the trend by HSC Trust between 31 March 2022 and 31 March 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 31 March 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 March 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 31 March 2023

HSC Trust	Under 1 year	1 to 4 years	5 to 11 years	12 to 15 years	16 years and over	Total
Belfast	44	116	149	71	15	395
Northern	50	106	188	92	28	464
South Eastern	31	88	121	55	17	312
Southern	36	115	193	114	34	492
Western	37	121	182	117	51	508
Northern Ireland	198	546	833	449	145	2,171

Table 2: Children on the child protection register by Health and Social Care Trust, quarter ending 31 March 2022 to 31 March 2023

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2a Count at QE

Figures at quarter ending (QE).
HSC Trust	QE 31 Mar 22	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22	QE 31 Mar 23
Belfast	345	367	407	401	395
Northern	522	488	530	471	464
South Eastern	359	345	347	321	312
Southern	591	532	531	499	492
Western	529	551	590	534	508
Northern Ireland	2,346	2,283	2,405	2,226	2,171

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

Rate is per 10,000 population aged under 18.
HSC Trust	QE 31 Mar 22	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22	QE 31 Mar 23
Belfast	44.5	47.4	52.5	51.7	51.0
Northern	47.8	44.7	48.5	43.1	42.5
South Eastern	43.9	42.2	42.5	39.3	38.2
Southern	59.4	53.5	53.4	50.2	49.5
Western	72.3	75.3	80.7	73.0	69.5
Northern Ireland	53.2	51.8	54.5	50.5	49.2

Table 3: Children on the child protection register by category of abuse and Health and Social Care Trust at 31 March 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]	6	0	[s]	[s]	16
Neglect and physical abuse	118	70	102	124	16	430
Neglect and sexual abuse	8	11	[s]	[s]	22	51
Physical and sexual abuse	[s]	23	[s]	23	[s]	53
Neglect only	113	128	80	99	247	667
Physical abuse only	126	154	87	200	28	595
Sexual abuse only	10	33	10	21	38	112
Emotional abuse only	17	39	25	16	150	247
Total	395	464	312	492	508	2,171

Table 4: Children on the child protection register by duration on the register and Health and Social Care Trust at 31 March 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	105	76	115	60	39	395
Northern	111	89	134	92	38	464
South Eastern	75	50	83	70	34	312
Southern	112	101	127	102	50	492
Western	88	82	158	106	74	508
Northern Ireland	491	398	617	430	235	2,171

Table 5: Children on the child protection register by legal status at 31 March 2023

Note: [s] indicates figures that have been suppressed to avoid personal disclosure.
Legal status	Northern Ireland
Accommodated (article 21)	64
Interim care order (article 57)	58
Care order (article 50 or 59)	17
Deemed care order (paras 11 and 30 of Sch 8)	[s]
Interim supervision order (article 57)	5
Other legal status	66
No legal status	1,961
Total	2,171

2. Child protection referrals

At 31 March 2023, 399 child protection referrals were received in Northern Ireland; an increase of 2% since 31 March 2022. Table 6 sets out the child protection referrals received by source of referral by HSC Trust at 31 March 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 31 March 2022 to 31 March 2023.

Figure 2: Number of referrals to child protection register received at quarter end (March 2010 to March 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 31 March 2023

Note: [s] indicates figures that have been suppressed to avoid personal disclosure.
Source of referral	Northern Ireland
Police	132
School or EWO	86
Voluntary org	0
GP	5
Social services	52
Community nursing	[s]
Relative, neighbour or friend	9
Hospital	21
Self	0
Anonymous	[s]
Other source of referral	90
Total	399

The trend data on the number of child protection referrals received between 31 March 2022 and 31 March 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 31 Mar 2022 and 31 March 2023 are set out in Table 7c.

Tables 7a and b: Child protection referrals received by Health and Social Care Trust quarter ending 31 March 2022 to 31 March 2023

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7a Count at QE

Figures at quarter ending (QE).
HSC Trust	QE 31 Mar 22	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22	QE 31 Mar 23
Belfast	42	66	38	48	45
Northern	105	95	90	69	123
South Eastern	61	58	69	57	39
Southern	100	37	44	43	62
Western	83	64	99	89	130
Northern Ireland	391	320	340	306	399

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

Rate is per 10,000 population aged under 18.
HSC Trust	QE 31 Mar 22	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22	QE 31 Mar 23
Belfast	5.4	8.5	4.9	6.2	5.8
Northern	9.6	8.7	8.2	6.3	11.3
South Eastern	7.5	7.1	8.4	7.0	4.8
Southern	10.1	3.7	4.4	4.3	6.2
Western	11.3	8.8	13.5	12.2	17.8
Northern Ireland	8.9	7.3	7.7	6.9	9.0

Table 7c: The number of significant events that subsequently led to child protection investigations by Health and Social Care Trust quarter ending 31 March 2022 to 31 March 2023

HSC Trust	QE 31 Mar 22	QE 30 Jun 22	QE 30 Sep 22	QE 31 Dec 22	QE 31 Mar 23
Belfast	87	71	95	96	108
Northern	145	153	141	108	111
South Eastern	79	70	78	52	75
Southern	156	170	148	178	175
Western	351	182	197	120	130
Northern Ireland	818	646	659	554	599

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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