1. Child Protection Register


The charts and tables below set out the number of children in Northern Ireland who were on the Child Protection Register at the end of the month since April 2020. Please note that these figures are management information and therefore subject to change.


Figure 1: Number of Children on the Child Protection Register in Northern Ireland (Provisional).

Apr 2020 to Jan 2025
  • Figures are provisional and may have been revised from previous months.
  • Months prior to October 2021 are based on the week ending figures and not last day of the month.

Select the tab to view line chart or bar chart.

Figure 1a: Monthly line chart
Figure 1b: Monthly bar chart
Data can be downloaded as Excel or CSV worksheet from the buttons below:
Figure 1.XLSX (8kB)
Figure 1.CSV (2kB)


Table 1: Number of Children on the Child Protection Register by HSC Trust (Provisional).

  • Figures are provisional and may have been revised from previous months.
  • Months prior to October 2021 are based on the week ending figures and not last day of the month.

Select the tab to view six latest months or all months.

Table 1a: Six latest months
HSC Trusts August 2024 September 2024 October 2024 November 2024 December 2024 January 2025
Belfast 373 369 359 375 389 385
Northern 573 568 552 558 559 559
South Eastern 383 354 344 331 349 363
Southern 522 493 492 493 508 527
Western 512 488 473 468 476 476
Northern Ireland 2,363 2,272 2,220 2,225 2,281 2,310
Table 1b: Apr 2020 to Jan 2025
Data can be downloaded as Excel or CSV worksheet from the buttons below:
Table 1.XLSX (10kB)
Table 1.CSV (6kB)


2. Children In Care

The charts and tables below set out the number of children in Northern Ireland who were looked after by HSC Trusts at the end of the month since April 2020. Please note that these figures are management information and therefore subject to change.


Figure 2: Number of Children In Care in Northern Ireland (Provisional).

Apr 2020 to Jan 2025
  • Figures are provisional and may have been revised from previous months.
  • Months prior to October 2021 are based on the week ending figures and not last day of the month.

Select the tab to view line chart or bar chart.

Figure 2a: Monthly line chart
Figure 2b: Monthly bar chart
Data can be downloaded as Excel or CSV worksheet from the buttons below:
Figure 2.XLSX (8kB)
Figure 2.CSV (2kB)


Table 2: Number of Children in Care by HSC Trust (Provisional).

  • Figures are provisional and may have been revised from previous months.
  • Months prior to October 2021 are based on the week ending figures and not last day of the month.

Select the tab to view six latest months or all months.

Table 2a: Six latest months
HSC Trusts August 2024 September 2024 October 2024 November 2024 December 2024 January 2025
Belfast 1,155 1,158 1,169 1,173 1,183 1,179
Northern 848 859 853 861 864 865
South Eastern 712 727 739 744 747 764
Southern 669 677 679 687 691 690
Western 733 710 699 706 693 695
Northern Ireland 4,117 4,131 4,139 4,171 4,178 4,193
Table 2b: Apr 2020 to Jan 2025
Data can be downloaded as Excel or CSV worksheet from the buttons below:
Table 2.XLSX (10kB)
Table 2.CSV (6kB)


3. Child Referrals to Social Services

The charts and tables below set out the number of children referrals to the five HCS Trusts’ social services during the month since April 2020. Please note that these figures are management information and therefore subject to change.

Due to the nature of this collection, some Trusts report number of referrals received (dated) during the time period and other Trusts report the referrals recorded on their administrative systems. With the reporting lag of two weeks, these should be almost identical.

For the three HSC Trusts Belfast, Southern and Western, the monthly figures up to October 2021 are the sum of weekly returns and therefore a proxy of the total of the month.


Figure 3: Number of Child Referrals to Social Service in Northern Ireland (Provisional).

Apr 2020 to Jan 2025
  • Figures are provisional and may have been revised from previous months.

Select the tab to view line chart or bar chart.

Figure 3a: Monthly line chart
Figure 3b: Monthly bar chart
Data can be downloaded as Excel or CSV worksheet from the buttons below:
Figure 3.XLSX (9kB)
Figure 3.CSV (2kB)


Table 3: Number of Child Referrals to Social Services in Northern Ireland (Provisional).

  • Figures are provisional and may have been revised from previous months.
  • Months prior to October 2021 are based on the week ending figures and not last day of the month.

Select the tab to view six latest months or all months.

Table 3a: Six latest months
HSC Trusts August 2024 September 2024 October 2024 November 2024 December 2024 January 2025
Northern Ireland 2,628 2,976 3,380 2,963 2,561 2,758
Table 3b: Apr 2020 to Jan 2025
Data can be downloaded as Excel or CSV worksheet from the buttons below:
Table 3.XLSX (9kB)
Table 3.CSV (2kB)


4. Child Protection Referrals

The charts and tables below set out the number of child protection referrals to the five HCS Trusts’ social services during the month since April 2020. Please note that these figures are management information and therefore subject to change.

Due to the nature of this collection, some Trusts report number of referrals received (dated) during the time period and other Trusts report the referrals recorded on their administrative systems. With the reporting lag of two weeks, these should be almost identical.

For the three HSC Trusts Belfast, Southern and Western, the monthly figures up to October 2021 are the sum of weekly returns and therefore a proxy of the total of the month.


Figure 4: Number of Child Protection Referrals in Northern Ireland (Provisional).

August 2020 to Jan 2025
  • Figures are provisional and may have been revised from previous months.

Select the tab to view line chart or bar chart.

Figure 4a: Monthly line chart
Figure 4b: Monthly bar chart
Data can be downloaded as Excel or CSV worksheet from the buttons below:
Figure 4.XLSX (9kB)
Figure 4.CSV (2kB)


Table 4: Number of Child Protection Referrals in Northern Ireland (Provisional).

  • Figures are provisional and may have been revised from previous months.
  • Months prior to October 2021 are based on the week ending figures and not last day of the month.

Select the tab to view six latest months or all months.

Table 4a: Six latest months
HSC Trusts August 2024 September 2024 October 2024 November 2024 December 2024 January 2025
Northern Ireland 100 146 175 147 101 134
Table 4b: Apr 2020 to Jan 2025
Data can be downloaded as Excel or CSV worksheet from the buttons below:
Table 4.XLSX (9kB)
Table 4.CSV (2kB)


5. Download Meta Data Table

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

Download data as excel tables:
Monthly Data: 34 KB

6. Technical Notes

6.1. Data Collection

This data collection of management information was originally put in place on a weekly basis from April 2020 as a temporary measure to aid the safeguarding of children during the unprecedented time of school closures, social distancing and lock-down due to the coronavirus outbreak. The reports used to extract the contained management figures have been agreed between HSC Trust, the HSC Board (now SPPG) and DoH.

The historic data originally published with a pre-covid comparison can be found here: Temporary Information Releases During Covid 19

From December 2023, the data collection changed name to “Northern Ireland Children’s Social Services Data (provisional)” and will be published as provisional figures alongside Official Statistics on children’s social care.

Data returns are extracted from the administrative system and/or data warehouse for each of the five Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts in Northern Ireland. The data in this output is provisional and separate to any Official Statistics data series published by Department of Health (DoH) on children’s social care.

In October 2021 the data collection changed from weekly to monthly returns. Historic weekly figures prior to the monthly collection started has been grouped as proxy monthly figures.

The data is extracted with a two week reporting lag to allow for input error corrections and delays. Although the data has been deemed to be robust, it has not undergone the same rigorous quality assurance checks that are carried out prior to the publication of Official Statistics. Therefore, these figures are deemed provisional and may be subject to change.

6.2. Contact Details

Community Information Branch
Information Analysis Directorate
Department of Health Northern Ireland
Email: CIB

6.3. Definitions

6.3.1 Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995

The Children (Northern Ireland) Order was made on 15 March 1995. The Order deals with the care, upbringing and protection of children, including disabled children. It reforms, consolidates and harmonises most of the public and private law relating to children in a single coherent statutory framework along the lines of the Children Act 1989 in England and Wales.

6.3.2. Child

Under the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, a child is defined as a person under the age of 18.

6.3.3. Referral to Children’s Social Care

A referral is defined as a request for services to be provided by children’s social care and is in respect of a child who is currently not assessed to be in need. A referral may result in an episode of care which may be an initial assessment of the child’s needs, the provision of information or advice, referral to another agency or alternatively no further action. A Child Protection Referral is one for which the initial assessment indicates that there may be Child Protection issues. Please note that figures previously published have include some referrals classified as “significant event”. These have now been removed for the whole time series.

6.3.4. Child Protection Register

A register must be maintained by each HSC Trust listing every child in the Trust area who has been abused or who is considered to be at risk of abuse, and who is currently the subject of a child protection plan.

6.3.5. Looked After Child / Child in Care

A child is looked after by an Authority if he or she is in their care or if he or she is provided with accommodation for a continuous period of more than 24 hours by the authority in the exercise of its Social Services function. Figures presented excludes any children who were looked after by virtue of short break arrangements only.