Main text: SFR41/2015
Source: data.gov.uk (2017-07-05)

Characteristics of children in need: 2014 to 2015. Characteristics of children in need: 2014 to 2015 Children referred to and assessed by children's social services for the financial year ending March 2015. The ‘main text’ document includes information on: children in need of social services children referred to social services assessments of children in need and their primary need at first assessment section 47 enquiries (a local authority carries out one of these if they suspect a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm) and initial child protection conferences children who were the subject of a child protection plan The ‘main tables’ and first ‘methodology’ document relate to this publication. We subsequently published the ‘outcomes tables’, showing figures that result from matching the children in need census to the national pupil database (NPD). These tables show children in need by: prevalence of free school meals (FSM) special educational needs (SEN) attainment absence and exclusions The ‘outcomes methodology’ document explains the matching process and calculations we used in these tables.

SFR 41/2015: Characteristics of children in need: 2014 to 2015, 22 October 2015 
Contact: Email: xxx@xxx.xx.  
Press office: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
Public enquiries: 0370 000 2288 
 
 
 
 
 
About this release 
This statistical first 
release (SFR) provides 
numbers of referrals and 
assessments by 
children’s social care in 
England. It releases the 
number of children 
assessed to be in need of 
social care services in the 
year ending 31 March 
2015 and the number of 
children who became the 
subject of a child 
protection plan. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Characteristics of children in need: 2014 to 2015 
The number of children in need decreased slightly in 2015 but the 
longer term trend remains relatively stable 
The number of children in 
need at 31 March 
decreased slightly this 
year. There were 391,000 
children in need at 31 
March 2015 which is a 
decrease of 2% from 
397,600 last year.  
The trend over the last six 
years remains relatively 
stable with the time series 
fluctuating between 
369,400 and 397,600. 
 
 
More children were the subject of a child protection plan in 2015 
The number of children who were the subject of a child protection plan at 31 
March continues to follow the upward trend of recent years - 49,700 children 
were the subject of a child protection plan at 31 March 2015, compared with 
39,100 six years ago when the children in need census began. 
The numbers starting and ending a child protecting plan in the year both 
continue to increase. 
 
 
375,900 382,400 369,400 378,600 
397,600 391,000 
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
450,000
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
 -
 10,000
 20,000
 30,000
 40,000
 50,000
 60,000
 70,000
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Child protection plans
starting in the year
Child protection plans
ending in the year
Child protection plans at
31 March

 SFR 41/2015: Characteristics of children in need: 2014 to 2015, 22 October 2015 
Contact: Email: xxx@xxx.xx.  
Press office: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
Public enquiries: 0370 000 2288 
Contents 
1. 
Number of children in need………………………………………………………………………………. 3 
2. 
Referrals to children’s social care (Tables C1)………………………………………………………… 5 
3. 
Assessments (Table C2)………………………………………………………………………………….. 7 
4. 
Section 47 enquiries and initial child protection conferences (Table C4)…………………………… 8 
5. 
Child protection plans (Tables D1 – D9)………………………………………………………………… 9 
6. 
Accompanying tables……………………………………………………………………………………… 10 
7. 
Further information is available………………………………………………………………………….. 11 
8. 
National Statistics………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12 
9. 
Technical Information……………………………………………………………………………………... 12 
10. 
Got a query? Like to give feedback?.................................................................................................12 
 
 
 
 
 
Children in need census 
All the figures included in this statistical first release are taken from the children in need census. The DfE has been 
collecting the children in need census from local authorities for the full 12 month period since 2009-10. It collects 
information on all referrals to children’s social care, assessments carried out upon those children and whether the 
child became the subject of a child protection plan.  
When a child is referred to children’s social care, an assessment is carried out to identify if the child is in need of 
services, which local authorities have an obligation to provide under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.  
These services can include, for example, family support (to help keep together families experiencing difficulties), 
leaving care support (to help young people who have left local authority care), adoption support or disabled children’s 
services (including social care, education and health provision). 
 
In this publication 
The following tables are included in the SFR: 
• National and local authority tables (SFR41_2015_tables.xls) 
• Underlying data (open format .csv and metadata .txt) 
The accompanying quality and methodology information document, provides information on the data sources, their 
coverage and quality, and explains the methodology used in producing the data. 
 
Feedback 
We are changing how our releases look and welcome feedback on any aspect of this document at 
xxx@xxx.xx.  
 
 

 
Page 3 of 13 
 
1. Number of children in need (Tables A1, B1, B5) 
Methodology of counting the number of children in need 
A child can start or end an episode of need more than once during the year but they should not have over-
lapping episodes. For example, if a child begins an episode of need in May 2014 which ends in August 
2014 and the same child begins another episode of need in December 2014 and is still in need on the 31 
March 2015, the child is counted as two starts, one end and one count at the 31 March 2015. A more 
detailed explanation is given in the accompanying methodology document and the data quality and uses 
document found alongside this publication at: Statistics: children in need and child protection 
Note that the number of children in need at 31 March does not equate to the previous year’s number plus 
the number started in the year minus those ceased.  This is due to: improving data quality as local authority 
systems adapt to returning the census data; estimates calculated for missing data (estimates we need to 
calculate when a local authority has not been able to supply full data); the census is taken each year and 
local authorities do not have the facility to amend previous year’s data returns. 
The number of children in need at 31 March decreased 
slightly this year. There were 391,000 children in need, 
down 2% on last year but up 4% on 31 March 2010. 
There was a slight decrease in the rate of children in 
need per 10,000 in the population from 345.6 in 2014 to 
337.3 in 2015. There is considerable variability in the 
rates of children in need between local authorities 
which ranges from 141.9 in Wokingham and 152.7 in 
Leicestershire, to 670.8 in Stoke on Trent and 683.4 in 
Hull. 
Figure A: Number of children in need at 31 March 
2010 to 2015 
 
Year 
ending 31 
March 
Number of 
children in 
need 
 
Rate per 10,000 
children aged under 
18 years 
2010 
375,900 
334.7 
2011 
382,400 
339.0 
2012 
369,400 
325.7 
2013 
378,600 
331.4 
2014 
397,600 
345.6 
2015 
391,000 
337.3 
Source: children in need census 
 
Figure B: The number of children in need episodes starting and ending in the year and those in need at 31 
March 
 
The number of children in need episodes starting in the year has decreased by 6% from 427,700 last year 
to 403,400 in 2014-15. This change will likely be driven by the decrease in referrals (see section 2).  
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
450,000
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Number of children in need
epsiodes starting in the
year
Number of children in need
episodes ending in the year
Children in need at 31
March

 
Page 4 of 13 
 
The number of children in need episodes ending in the year is up by 2% on last year. This increase could 
be explained by the sharp 8% increase in the number of episodes starting last year and the fact that the 
majority of episodes in need are under 12 months (see figure C).  
 
Figure C: Percentage of episodes ending in year by duration 
 
Duration 
2010-11 
2011-12 
2012-13 2013-14 
2014-15 
6 months or less 
69.2 
69.2 
68.7 
66.7 
64.0 
6 to 12 months 
12.5 
12.0 
12.3 
13.3 
14.7 
1 year or more 
18.3 
18.7 
18.9 
20.0 
21.3 
 
Episodes of need are lasting 
longer – of the episodes 
ending in the year 21.3% 
lasted a year or more 
compared to 18.3% in 
2010/11. 
  
Characteristics of children in need 
The gender split of children in need remains similar to previous years - 52.5% are male, 45.5% are female 
and 2.0% are unborn or of unknown gender.  
The age split of children in need also remains similar to previous years. The largest age group is those 
aged 10-15 years accounting for 30.7% of children in need; 25.3% are under 5 years of age. 
The proportion of children in need with a disability has dropped slightly over the last five years from 14.2% 
in 2010/11 to 13.0% in 2014/15.  
 
 
 

 
Page 5 of 13 
 
2. Referrals to children’s social care (Table C1) 
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 not currently in need. A referral may result in: an assessment of the child’s need; the provision of information or 
advice; referral to another agency; or no further action. If a child is referred more than once in the year then each 
referral is counted in the figures. New information relating to children who are already on an open episode of need is 
not counted as a referral. 
A re-referral is where a child has been referred within 12 months of a previous referral. Further details on how these 
figures are calculated can be found in the accompanying methodology document found alongside this publication at: 
Statistics: children in need and child protection  
 
Figure D: Referrals to children’s social care have fallen, following an increase last year 
Number of referrals in the year ending 31 March 
 
Referrals have dropped slightly this year after a larger than usual increase last year. There were 635,600 
referrals in the year ending 31 March 2015 – down by 3% from 657,800 the previous year, but still higher 
than the four years before where the number of referrals fluctuated around 600,000 each year. Whilst there 
is no clear evidence, anecdotal evidence from local authorities suggests that increased media attention on 
child protection leads to an increase in the number of referrals they receive.  
As a proportion of all referrals: 
 
13.8% require no further action after initial consideration, similar to previous years; 
 
23.0% are assessed and then require no further action, up from 19% last year; 
 
24.0% were within 12 months of a previous referral, similar to previous years. 
 
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015

 
Page 6 of 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15.6 
14.5 
14.1 
13.8 
2012
2013
2014
2015
Figure E1: Proportion of 
referrals leading to no 
further action 
19.1 
19.0 
19.4 
23.0 
2012
2013
2014
2015
Figure E2: Proportion of 
referrals which are 
assessed and then deemed 
not in need 
26.1 
24.9 
23.4 
24.0 
2012
2013
2014
2015
Figure E3: Re-referrals 
within 12 months as a 
proportion of all referrals 
Figure F: The police are the most common source of referral 
Referrals in 2014-15 by source of referral (percent) 
 
Most referrals are from the police – this 
year 26.4% of referrals were from the 
police, followed by schools with 15.4%, 
and health services with 14.9%.  
The source of referral was collected for 
the first time last year. It can take a 
year or two for new data items to ‘bed-
in’ so caution should be taken when 
comparing to last year’s data.  
Where there is more than one referral 
for the same child, it is the referral 
source of the first referral reported in 
the children in need census. 
1.6 
2.5 
2.9 
3.3 
3.3 
7.0 
9.7 
13.0 
14.9 
15.4 
26.4 
Housing
Anonymous
Education services
Other legal agency
Unknown
Other
Individual
LA services
Health services
Schools
Police

 
Page 7 of 13 
 
3. Assessments (Table C2) 
Changes to assessing children in need 
Statutory guidance ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ was revised in 2013 giving local authorities more 
flexibility when assessing children.  
Previously local authorities carried out an initial assessment within 10 working days and (where needed) a more in-
depth core assessment within 35 working days. 
Local authorities now have the flexibility to carry out a single continuous assessment within 45 working days. 
There were 139 (91%) local authorities operating a continuous assessment model by the end of March 
2015 (up from 71% by the end of March 2014). No distinction between the types of assessment carried out 
was recorded in the data collected this year. 
In the year ending 31 March 2015, 550,810 assessments were completed, with an average (median) 
duration of 28 working days.  
Primary need identified at assessment (Tables B3) 
When a child is assessed following a referral, the practitioner determines the child’s primary need at this first 
assessment. Only one need can be reported here and the list of primary needs is hierarchical, so in cases where 
multiple needs are identified, the need highest in the list is reported in the census.  
The categories are designed only to identify what kinds of pressures are placed on children’s social services. The 
order of the categories relate to the specificity of the description and not necessarily importance. However, the order is 
fixed so that there is consistency. 
Factors identified at the end of assessment (Table C3) 
Factors identified at the end of assessment are in addition to the primary need identified at assessment and 
were collected and reported for the first time last year. If more than one factor has been identified at 
assessment, each can be reported within the census. Most children will have more than one factor 
identified and reported. Last year, data was only published at a national level due to the quality and 
coverage – only around 73% of assessments had factors recorded against them and this varied by local 
authority. The quality and coverage improved this year with around 94% of assessments having factors 
recorded against them. From experience it can take a year or two for new data items to ‘bed-in’ so treat the 
data with some caution when comparing to last year’s results.  
Figure G: “Abuse or neglect” is the most common primary need 
Children in need at 31 March 2015, by primary need at first assessment 
 
Most children’s primary 
need is due to abuse or 
neglect and the proportion 
is up on last year, from 
47.2% to 49.4%. Family 
dysfunction is the second 
most common need, 17.9% 
this year down from 18.6% 
last year. 
4.5 
0.9 
2.6 
0.5 
2.0 
17.9 
9.2 
2.8 
10.2 
49.4 
N0 - Not stated
N9 - Cases other than children in need
N8 - Absent parenting
N7 - Low income
N6 - Socially unacceptable behaviour
N5 - Family dysfunction
N4 - Family in acute stress
N3 - Parent's disability or illness
N2 - Child's disability or illness
N1 - Abuse or neglect

 
Page 8 of 13 
 
Domestic violence, which 
includes that aimed at 
children or other adults in 
the household, was the 
most common factor 
identified, flagged in 
48.2% of episodes 
assessed in the year and 
with assessment factors 
recorded.  
This was followed by 
mental health at 32.5%, 
which incorporates mental 
health of the child or other 
adults in the 
family/household. 
Figure H: Domestic violence is the most common factor identified 
Factors identified at the end of assessment as a proportion of episodes assessed in 
the year 
 
4. Section 47 enquiries and initial child protection conferences (Table C4) 
If the local authority identifies there is reasonable cause to suspect the child is suffering, or is likely to suffer significant 
harm, it will carry out an assessment under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 to determine if it needs to take 
steps to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child. If concerns are substantiated and the child is judged to be at 
continuing risk of harm then an initial child protection conference should be convened within 15 working days. 
Figure I: Section 47 enquiries and initial child protection conferences are 
increasing 
Number of section 47 enquiries and initial child protection conferences 
 
The number of section 47 
enquiries carried out continues 
to increase this year resulting in 
more initial child protection 
conferences: 160,150 section 
47 enquiries were initiated – an 
increase of 12% on last year.  
There were 71,140 initial child 
protection conferences carried 
out, which is nearly a 10% 
increase on last year. 
48.2 
32.5 
18.0 
17.8 
17.7 
16.5 
13.4 
11.1 
9.9 
7.1 
5.8 
3.9 
3.0 
2.8 
2.2 
0.9 
0.5 
0.3 
0.3 
Domestic violence
Mental health
Emotional abuse
Alcohol misuse
Drug misuse
Neglect
Physical abuse
Learning disability
Physical disability or illness
Socially unacceptable behaviour
Sexual abuse
Self-harm
Child sexual exploitation
Young carer
Going/being missing
Gangs
Unaccompanied asylum seeker
Privately fostered
Trafficking
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
180,000
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Section 47 
enquiries 
Initial child protection conferences 

 
Page 9 of 13 
 
5. Child protection plans (Tables D1 – D9) 
At the initial child protection conference, the decision will be made as to whether the child needs to become the 
subject of a child protection plan. When a child becomes the subject of a plan, the initial category of abuse is 
recorded. 
Plans should be reviewed within the first three months, and then at least every six months. 
A child should no longer be the subject of a plan if it is judged they are no longer at risk of harm, or if the child 
has reached 18 years old, left the country or died. A local authority will end a plan if the family moves permanently to 
another authority and the receiving authority will start a new plan if deemed necessary. 
More children became the subject of a child protection plan this year, continuing the recent trend. In 2015, 
62,200 children became the subject of a child protection plan compared to 59,800 last year. The number of 
children starting a child protection plan is largely driven by section 47 enquiries. This year, there was an 
increase in section 47 enquiries therefore resulting in more children becoming the subject of a child 
protection plan. 
Figure J: Number of child protection plans starting in the year, ending in the year and at 31 March have all 
increased 
Child protection plans starting and ending in the year, and at 31 March 
 
A higher proportion became the subject of a plan for the second or subsequent time. In 2014-15, 16.6% 
became the subject of a child protection plan for the second or subsequent time which has been steadily 
increasing from 13.3% in 2010/11. Part of the steady increase is expected as the time series of the children 
in need census grows and there is more historical data.  
This year, 94.0% of child protection plans were reviewed within the required timescales. This is down 
slightly from 94.6% last year. 
The most common ‘initial category of abuse’ reported when a child becomes the subject of a plan is neglect 
at 43.2%, followed by emotional abuse (33.7%). 
The durations of child protection plans that end in the year have remained fairly stable since 2010-11 but 
the proportion lasting more than 2 years has dropped from 4.5% last year to 3.7% this year. 
 -
 10,000
 20,000
 30,000
 40,000
 50,000
 60,000
 70,000
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Child protection plans starting in
the year
Child protection plans ending in
the year
Child protection plans at 31
March

 
Page 10 of 13 
 
6. Accompanying tables 
The following tables are available in Excel format on the department’s statistics website (Statistics: children 
in need and child protection): 
National figures 
A1 Numbers of children in need, referrals and 
assessments carried out by children’s social 
services, years ending 31 March, England, 2010 to 
2015 
A2 Number of section 47 enquiries and initial child 
protection conferences carried out by children’s 
social services and the number of children who were 
the subject of a child protection plan, year ending 31 
March, England, 2010 to 2015 
A3 Numbers of children in need at 31 March 2015, by 
gender, age (at 31 March) and primary need at 
assessment, England 
A4 Numbers of children in need at 31 March 2015, by 
age (at 31 March), gender and ethnicity, England 
A5 Number of children who were the subject of a child 
protection plan at 31 March 2015, by age (at 31 
March), gender, initial category of abuse and 
ethnicity, England 
Local authority figures: children in need 
B1 Numbers of children in need. All children in need 
throughout the year, children starting, ending and at 
31 March 2015, and rates per 10,000 children 
B2 Numbers of children in need at 31 March 2015, by 
disability 
B3 Numbers of children in need at 31 March 2015, by 
primary need at assessment 
B4 Numbers and percentages of children in need at 31 
March 2015, by duration of open case 
B5 Numbers and percentages of children ceasing to be 
in need in the year ending 31 March 2015, by 
duration of episode of need 
B6 Numbers and percentages of children ceasing to be 
in need in the year ending 31 March 2015, by reason 
for case closure 
Local authority figures: referrals and assessments 
C1 Number of referrals in year ending 31 March 2015 
and rates per 10,000 children, number of referrals 
within 12 months of a previous referral and number 
which resulted in no further action 
C2 Number of assessments completed by children’s 
social services in the year ending 31 March 2015 by 
duration of assessment 
C3 Factors identified at the end of assessment for 
episodes in the year ending 31 March 2015. 
C4 Number of children who were subject to section 47 
enquiries and initial child protection conferences in 
the year ending 31 March 2015, and rates per 
10,000 children 
C5 Number of referrals completed by children’s social 
services by source of referral 
Local authority figures: children who were the 
subject of a child protection plan 
D1 Numbers of children who were the subject of a child 
protection plan starting, or ending during the year 
ending 31 March 2015, at 31 March 2015 and rates 
per 10,000 
D2 Number of children who became the subject of a 
child protection plan during the year ending 31 
March 2015, by initial and latest category of abuse 
D3 Number of children who became the subject of a 
child protection plan during the year ending 31 
March 2015 who became the subject of a plan for a 
second or subsequent time 
D4 Number of children who were the subject of a child 
protection plan at 31 March 2015, by initial and latest 
category of abuse 
D5 Number of children who were the subject of a child 
protection plan at 31 March 2015, by length of time 
as the subject of a plan 
D6 Number of children who were the subject of a child 
protection plan at 31 March 2015, who had been on 
a plan for at least three months and had reviews 
carried out within the required timescales 
D7 Number of children who ceased to be the subject of 
a child protection plan during the year ending 31 
March 2015, by length of time as the subject of a 
plan 
D8 Number of children who ceased to be the subject of 
a child protection plan during the first six months of 
the year, by the length of time the child remained in 
need 
D9 Number of children who were the subject of a child 
protection plan during the year ending 31 March 
2015 who were seen by the lead social worker in 
accordance with the timescales specified in the plan 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Page 11 of 13 
 
When reviewing the tables, please note that: 
Data confidence indicators 
and data quality and uses 
Data confidence indicators enable more sensible comparison. Local 
authorities are allocated a 1 (low confidence in the data) to 3 (high 
confidence in the data). The quality and uses document gives more 
details, this can be found on the Statistics: children in need and child 
protection webpage. 
Rounding conventions and 
suppression 
The National Statistics Code of Practice requires that reasonable steps 
should be taken to ensure that all published or disseminated statistics 
produced by the department for Education protect confidentiality. 
In most tables the figures are presented as whole numbers while in some 
tables, percentages are displayed to 1 decimal point. The rounding 
convention is a follows: any fractions of 0.5 and above will be rounded up, 
anything less than 0.5 will be rounded down. Where any number is shown 
as zero (0), the original figure submitted was zero (0). 
The following conventions have been used: 
‘.’ means not applicable 
‘..’ means not available 
‘-‘ means negligible count  
‘x’ means a figure between 1 and 5 inclusive 
Please note that further secondary suppression may have been applied 
on zeroes or numbers above 5 to preserve confidentiality where primary 
suppression could be derived. 
7. Further information is available 
Previous publications  
Information on the numbers of children referred to and assessed by 
children’s social services for the year ending 31 March 2014. 
Statistics: children in need and child protection 
The children in need census 
The Department for Education has been collecting the children in need 
census from local authorities since 2008-09. The census collects 
information on all referrals to children’s social care, assessments carried 
out upon those children and whether the children became the subject of a 
child protection plan. 
The first collection in 2008-09 covered the six month period from 1 
October 2008 to 31 March 2009 – from 2009-10 the census was rolled out 
to cover the full 12 month period. 
Children in need census 
Looked-after children 
Statistics on children under local authority care at national and local 
authority level. 
Statistics: children looked-after 
Children’s social workers 
Statistics on children’s social care workers employed by local authorities. 
Statistics: children's social care workforce 

 
Page 12 of 13 
 
Ofsted statistics 
Ofsted publish inspection outcomes for local authority children’s services 
and children’s social care providers in England. 
Statistics for other UK 
countries 
The Scottish Government: Children’s social work statistics 
Welsh Government: Social services statistics 
Children’s services statistics for Northern Ireland  
8. National Statistics 
The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in 
accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code 
of Practice for Official Statistics. 
Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics: 
 
meet identified user needs; 
 
are well explained and readily accessible; 
 
are produced according to sound methods, and 
 
are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest. 
Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of 
Practice shall continue to be observed. 
The Department has a set of statistical policies in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. 
9. Technical Information 
A quality and methodology information document accompanies this SFR. This provides further information 
on the data sources, their coverage and quality and explains the methodology used in producing the data, 
including how it is validated and processed. 
10. Got a query? Like to give feedback? 
If from the media 
Press Office News Desk, Department for Education, Sanctuary Buildings, 
Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BT. 
xx-xxxx-xxxx 
If non-media 
Anneka Nelson-Girtchen, Department for Education, 2 St Paul's Place, 
125 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 2FJ. xx-xxxx-xxxx 
xxx@xxx.xx  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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