I would like the following information relating to childrens/social services:
For the following years: 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2021:
1) The total number of referrals made to Children’s Services
There were a total of 5,630 children referred to Children’s Services in 2017/18, 5,685 children referred to Children’s Services in 2018/19, 4,519 children referred to Children’s Services in 2019/20 and 5,137 children referred to Children’s Services in 2020/21.
These figures reflect the number of children referred to service rather than the number of referrals.
2) The stated ethnicity of the children to whom the referral is regarding
Note regarding numbers: * We have redacted very low numbers throughout to avoid identifying individuals, in line with S40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Note regarding ethnicity: we are able to provide only the ethnicities recorded on the system, and cannot investigate further where ethnicity is non-distinct. This matches for Department for Education Children in Need census guidance for child ethnicity.
| Ethnicity | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| Indian | 7 | 10 | 3 | 3 |
| Pakistani | * | 7 | 4 | * |
| Bangladeshi | 11 | 5 | 12 | 3 |
| Any other Asian background | 47 | 37 | 49 | 19 |
| Caribbean | 0 | 0 | * | * |
| African | 32 | 19 | 4 | 6 |
| Any other Black background | 0 | 3 | * | 5 |
| White and Black Caribbean | 38 | 49 | 38 | 26 |
| White and Black African | 23 | 33 | 19 | 31 |
| White and Asian | 58 | 49 | 23 | 39 |
| Any other mixed background | 61 | 42 | 37 | 35 |
| White British | 4,838 | 4,864 | 3,702 | 4,273 |
| White Irish | * | 6 | 9 | 7 |
| Traveller of Irish heritage | 10 | 12 | 6 | 13 |
| Any other White Background | 234 | 223 | 179 | 113 |
| Gypsy/Roma | 36 | 30 | 8 | 15 |
| Chinese | 16 | 8 | 16 | 21 |
| Any other ethnic group | 38 | 24 | 48 | 22 |
| Refused | 2 | 14 | 13 | 17 |
| Information not yet obtained | 176 | 250 | 346 | 485 |
3) The total number of referrals that have resulted in an assessment under section 17 of the Children Act 1989
Of the 5,630 children referred to Children’s Services in 2017/18, 4,321 had an assessment under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
Of the 5,685 children referred to Children’s Services in 2018/19, 3,944 had an assessment under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
Of the 4,519 children referred to Children’s Services in 2019/20 2,989 had an assessment under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
Of the 5,137 children referred to Children’s Services in 2020/21, 3,445 had an assessment under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
These figures reflect the number of children referred to service rather than the number of referrals.
4) The stated ethnicity of the children whom the assessment is regarding
Note regarding ethnicity: we are able to provide only the ethnicities recorded on the system, and cannot investigate further where ethnicity is non-distinct. This matches for Department for Education Children in Need census guidance for child ethnicity.
| Ethnicity | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| Indian | 4 | 9 | 3 | * |
| Pakistani | * | 5 | 4 | * |
| Bangladeshi | 9 | * | 11 | * |
| Any other Asian background | 23 | 22 | 21 | 14 |
| Caribbean | 0 | 0 | 0 | * |
| African | 21 | 15 | 3 | 6 |
| Any other Black background | 0 | 0 | * | 3 |
| White and Black Caribbean | 30 | 36 | 24 | 16 |
| White and Black African | 21 | 21 | 14 | 24 |
| White and Asian | 47 | 38 | 18 | 23 |
| Any other mixed background | 45 | 31 | 23 | 29 |
| White British | 3,839 | 3,434 | 2,495 | 2,865 |
| White Irish | * | 5 | 8 | 6 |
| Traveller of Irish heritage | 10 | 12 | 5 | 6 |
| Any other White Background | 124 | 111 | 77 | 69 |
| Gypsy/Roma | 31 | 29 | 7 | 14 |
| Chinese | 5 | * | 8 | * |
| Any other ethnic group | 24 | 16 | 23 | 14 |
| Refused | 2 | 9 | 5 | 14 |
| Information not yet obtained | 83 | 147 | 238 | 334 |
5) A breakdown of the outcome of each assessment, specifying the ethnicity of the child/children in each outcome.
Note: This response reflects individual children rather than individual assessments, to maintain continuity across all questions.
Assessment Outcome: Case Closure
Note regarding ethnicity: we are able to provide only the ethnicities recorded on the system, and cannot investigate further where ethnicity is non-distinct. This matches for Department for Education Children in Need census guidance for child ethnicity.
| Ethnicity | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| Indian | 0 | 6 | 3 | * |
| Pakistani | * | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Bangladeshi | 6 | * | * | * |
| Any other Asian background | 11 | 14 | 9 | 4 |
| Caribbean | 0 | 0 | 0 | * |
| African | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Any other Black background | 0 | 0 | * | 0 |
| White and Black Caribbean | 17 | 15 | 8 | 6 |
| White and Black African | 8 | 9 | 3 | 8 |
| White and Asian | 20 | 16 | 10 | 8 |
| Any other mixed background | 16 | 17 | 8 | 10 |
| White British | 1,785 | 1,637 | 1,112 | 1,290 |
| White Irish | 0 | 3 | 4 | * |
| Traveller of Irish heritage | * | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Any other White Background | 55 | 46 | 38 | 37 |
| Gypsy/Roma | 29 | 18 | 4 | 6 |
| Chinese | 5 | * | 3 | * |
| Any other ethnic group | 8 | 15 | 8 | 8 |
| Refused | 0 | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| Information not yet obtained | 53 | 86 | 151 | 219 |
Assessment Outcome: Multi Agency Early Help OfferÂ
Note regarding ethnicity: we are able to provide only the ethnicities recorded on the system, and cannot investigate further where ethnicity is non-distinct. This matches for Department for Education Children in Need census guidance for child ethnicity.
| Ethnicity | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| Pakistani | 0 | * | 0 | 0 |
| Bangladeshi | 0 | 0 | * | 0 |
| Any other Asian background | 3 | 3 | 0 | * |
| African | 7 | 0 | 0 | * |
| White and Black Caribbean | 5 | 3 | 5 | * |
| White and Black African | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| White and Asian | 5 | 6 | * | 3 |
| Any other mixed background | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| White British | 549 | 603 | 362 | 390 |
| White Irish | 0 | * | * | * |
| Traveller of Irish heritage | 4 | 3 | * | * |
| Any other White Background | 12 | 21 | 13 | 6 |
| Gypsy/Roma | 0 | * | 0 | 0 |
| Any other ethnic group | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Refused | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Information not yet obtained | 8 | 30 | 38 | 47 |
Assessment Outcome: Progress to Initial Child Protection (CP) Conference
Note regarding ethnicity: we are able to provide only the ethnicities recorded on the system, and cannot investigate further where ethnicity is non-distinct. This matches for Department for Education Children in Need census guidance for child ethnicity.
| Ethnicity | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| Indian | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistani | 0 | 0 | 0 | * |
| Bangladeshi | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Any other Asian background | * | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| African | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Any other Black background | 0 | 0 | 0 | * |
| White and Black Caribbean | 5 | 12 | 8 | * |
| White and Black African | 3 | 0 | 3 | * |
| White and Asian | 10 | 5 | 0 | * |
| Any other mixed background | 8 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| White British | 368 | 306 | 368 | 411 |
| White Irish | 0 | * | * | * |
| Traveller of Irish heritage | 0 | 4 | * | 0 |
| Any other White Background | 6 | 16 | 8 | 10 |
| Gypsy/Roma | 0 | 7 | * | 3 |
| Chinese | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Any other ethnic group | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Refused | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Information not yet obtained | 8 | 4 | 13 | 11 |
Assessment Outcome: Recommend Child in Need (CIN) Planning
Note regarding ethnicity: we are able to provide only the ethnicities recorded on the system, and cannot investigate further where ethnicity is non-distinct. This matches for Department for Education Children in Need census guidance for child ethnicity.
| Ethnicity | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| Indian | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Pakistani | * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bangladeshi | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Any other Asian background | 4 | 5 | * | * |
| African | 8 | 7 | 0 | * |
| White and Black Caribbean | * | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| White and Black African | 4 | 9 | 4 | 9 |
| White and Asian | 12 | 11 | 5 | 9 |
| Any other mixed background | 15 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| White British | 1,055 | 770 | 586 | 650 |
| White Irish | * | 0 | * | * |
| Traveller of Irish heritage | 4 | 0 | * | 0 |
| Any other White Background | 47 | 22 | 13 | 7 |
| Gypsy/Roma | * | * | * | 4 |
| Chinese | 0 | 0 | * | 0 |
| Any other ethnic group | 10 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Refused | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Information not yet obtained | 14 | 24 | 30 | 50 |
Assessment Outcome: Child Looked After (CLA) PlanningÂ
Note regarding ethnicity: we are able to provide only the ethnicities recorded on the system, and cannot investigate further where ethnicity is non-distinct. This matches for Department for Education Children in Need census guidance for child ethnicity.
| Ethnicity | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| Pakistani | 0 | 0 | * | 0 |
| Bangladeshi | 0 | 0 | * | 0 |
| Any other Asian background | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
| African | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Any other Black background | 0 | 0 | 0 | * |
| White and Black Caribbean | 0 | * | 0 | 0 |
| White and Black African | 0 | 0 | * | 0 |
| Any other mixed background | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| White British | 0 | 19 | 40 | 55 |
| Any other White Background | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Any other ethnic group | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Refused | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Information not yet obtained | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Assessment Outcome: Short Breaks (CIN)
Note regarding ethnicity: we are able to provide only the ethnicities recorded on the system, and cannot investigate further where ethnicity is non-distinct. This matches for Department for Education Children in Need census guidance for child ethnicity.
| Ethnicity | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| Bangladeshi | 0 | 0 | * | 0 |
| White and Black Caribbean | 0 | 0 | 0 | * |
| White and Black African | 0 | 0 | 0 | * |
| White and Asian | 0 | 0 | * | 0 |
| Any other mixed background | 0 | * | 0 | 0 |
| White British | 0 | 4 | 12 | 36 |
| Any other White Background | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Gypsy/Roma | 0 | 0 | 0 | * |
| Any other ethnic group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Information not yet obtained | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
Assessment Outcome: Transfer (Not CIN/CP/CLA)
Note regarding ethnicity: we are able to provide only the ethnicities recorded on the system, and cannot investigate further where ethnicity is non-distinct. This matches for Department for Education Children in Need census guidance for child ethnicity.
| Ethnicity | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| White and Black Caribbean | 0 | 0 | 0 | * |
| White and Asian | 0 | 0 | 0 | * |
| White – British | 0 | 22 | 15 | 33 |
| Any other White Background | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Any other ethnic group | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Refused | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Information not yet obtained | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Assessment Outcome: CP/Care plan to continue
Note regarding ethnicity: we are able to provide only the ethnicities recorded on the system, and cannot investigate further where ethnicity is non-distinct. This matches for Department for Education Children in Need census guidance for child ethnicity.
| Ethnicity | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| Any other Asian background | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| African | 3 | * | 0 | 0 |
| White and Black Caribbean | * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| White and Black African | * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Any other mixed background | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| White British | 82 | 73 | 0 | 0 |
| Any other White Background | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Any other ethnic group | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Information not yet obtained | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
* We have redacted very low numbers throughout to avoid identifying individuals, in line with S40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
All responses are for financial years.