Background to the Research

• The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of official NI statistics on key areas of child protection which are relevant to NSPCC staff, other professionals and children's agencies working in a variety of areas.
• It is intended that this information will be updated on an annual basis and will act as a guide to facts and figures related to key issues such as: child population, per capita spending, social work referrals, child protection investigations, children on the Child Protection Register, looked after children, a profile of care leavers, children and crime, child deaths, economic well-being and poverty.
  

Research Approach

• NI official statistics from a wide variety of sources have been used to compile this report.
  

Main Findings

Child Population (DHSSPS, 2002)

• In the year 2000 there were a total of 460,538 children in NI, comprising 27.1% of the population.

Per Capita Spending (DHSSPS, 2002)

• Per capita spending on children's services in 2000/01 equalled £179.7 per child. While this represents a 25% increase from 1998/99 this figure remains consistently and significantly lower than per capita spending on children in England (£254 per child).

Children's Services (DHSSPS, 2002)

• In 2000/01 there were a total of 24,265 referrals made to social services, two thirds of which were in relation to children (16,037). This represents an 11% increase in the total number of referrals from 1998/1999 and a slight decrease in the number of children referred.
• Of the 16,037 children referred in 2000/01, a quarter were under the age of 5, a third were 5-11 years old, three in ten were aged 12-15 years and one in ten were aged 16 and over.
• 43.1% of children's referrals were in relation to childcare issues, 30.9% were in relation to child protection issues and 8.9% were in relation to children with a disability. A further 7.5% were in relation to children whose well-being is likely to be prejudiced as a result of behavioural, emotional, psychiatric or psychological disturbance and 3.9% were in relation to emotional, physical or developmental impairment as a result of family breakdown.
• In 2000/01, there were 14,650 episodes of involvement for children referred to social services, slightly lower than in 1998/99 (14,749).
• Across Trusts, the South & East Belfast HSST had the highest rate of referrals per 10,000 children (900.7), almost double the figure for the time period 1998/9 (574.7). Newry & Mourne HSST had the lowest rate of all eleven Trusts (347.7).

Child Protection Investigations (DHSSPS, 2002)

• There were 2,360 child protection investigations in 2000/2001, a figure which represents a 20% decrease in the number of child protection investigations carried out in 1998/1999 (2,984) and a 6% decrease from 1999/2000 (2,511).
• There was considerable variation in the number of child protection investigations carried out across individual Trusts. Over the past three years, rates within the North and West Belfast HSST and Foyle HSST have decreased significantly, although they still have the highest rates per 10,000 children (112.6 & 83.8 respectively). This is followed by the Ulster Community & Hospitals Trust (69.3) and Down & Lisburn HSST (56.2) while Craigavon & Banbridge HSST have the lowest (12.0).

Children on the Child Protection Register (DHSSPS, 2002)

• At 31 March 2001, there were 1,414 children on the CPR, a slight decrease since 1999 (1,463). This gives a rate of 30.7 children per 10,000 on the CPR in NI, higher than the corresponding figure for England during the same time period (23.8)
• There was considerable variation across Trusts with regard to the rates of children per 10,000 on the CPR. North and West Belfast HSST had the highest rate (57.2) and Craigavon and Banbridge HSST the lowest (3.5).
• Two in five children on the CPR were aged 5-11, three in ten were under the age of 5, one in five were aged 12-15 years and 1 in twenty were aged 16 and over
• Almost half of the 1,414 children were placed on the register under the category of neglect, three in ten under the category of physical abuse, 15% under the category of sexual abuse and 13% under the category of emotional abuse.
• In comparison with figures from England, the category of abuse under which a child is registered is markedly similar with emotional abuse showing the largest difference with 3.5% more cases in NI being registered under this category.

Looked After Children (DHSSPS, 2002)

• There were a total of 2,414 children 'looked after' in care in 2000/01, a 4% increase from the previous year (2,324). The rate of looked after children per 10,000 in NI is 52.4 (England - 52.3).
• Two thirds of looked after children were accommodated in the EHSSB with North & West Belfast HSST having the highest rate of looked after children per 10,000 population aged under 18 (82.5) and Down & Lisburn HSST the lowest (47.7). North & West Belfast HSST had the highest rate of looked after children while Craigavon and Banbridge had the lowest (27.7).
• Almost two thirds of children looked after in NI were placed in foster care, one in five were placed with parents, one in ten in residential accommodation and 3% in some other type of placement.
• During 2000/01 a total of 1,093 children became looked after, a slight increase from 1998/9 (1,041). Of these children approximately one third were under the age of five, almost 2 in 5 were aged 5-11 years, a quarter were aged 12-15 and 2% were aged 16 and over.
• During 2000/2001 97.7% of looked after children (2,358) were being looked after under one of three legal status categories. Three in five of looked after children were the subject of a Care Order or deemed Care Order, 3 in 10 were accommodated under Article 21 and almost 8% were looked after under an Interim Care Order.

Profile of Children Leaving Care (DHSSPS, 2003)

• 105 boys and 94 girls aged 16 and over ceased to be looked after during the year ending the 31st March 2001.
• More than one third of these young people had been looked after for more than 10 years while 15% had been looked after for 5-10 years, 3 in 10 had been looked after for 1-5 years and almost 1 in 5 had been looked after for less than year.
• One third (33%) of young people leaving care in 2001/2002 had been in foster care immediately prior to leaving care, 21.6% had been in residential care, 19% had been placed with families and 26.1% were placed in other forms of accommodation which included hospitals, special schools etc.
• Over 1 in 10 (12.1%) young people leaving care in 2001/02 were disabled.
• Over 1 in 20 (5.5%) left care before the date at which they would normally have sat their GCSEs (England - 5.8%). However almost three quarters (74.4) were aged 18 when they left care.
• More than half of the young people who left care had no educational qualifications, 43% had one or more GSCE, and 2% had A-Level qualifications. The figures compare very badly with all NI school leavers with care leavers being 10 times more likely to have no formal qualifications. Similarly 56% of school leavers had 1 or more GSCEs compared with 43% of care leavers while school leavers were 15 time more likely to leave school with 3 or more A-Levels than care leavers.

Children and Crime

Victims (PSNI, 2003; NIO, 2003)

• A total of 4,997 offences against children under 17 were recorded by the PSNI in the year 2002/03.
• There were 786 sexual offences which included indecent assault (51%) and rape (17%).
• The overall figures for recorded offences have increased each year from 1998-2002, particularly within the category of minor assaults. However it is important to note that these increases may be related to changes in the way crime was recorded in 1998.
• Recorded sexual offences against children and young people in 2002/03 rose by 9% from the previous year with increases being most apparent in the categories of rape, gross indecency with a child and buggery. Reported sexual offences against children remained relatively stable in recent years after a sharp rise in 1998 following the inclusion of indecent exposure on the list of notifiable offences.

Juvenile Offenders (NIO, 2003)

• In 1999, 1,018 juveniles (aged 10-16) were prosecuted at all courts in NI (Crown & Magistrates' Court), a figure which represents a 15% reduction rate from 1998.
• 68% of the juvenile prosecutions in magistrates' courts were for indictable offences, the most common of which was theft, followed by burglary and violence against the person.

Child Deaths (General Registrar, 2002)

• In 2001, there were 247 deaths of children and young people aged up to the age of 19 in NI.
• A total of 134 of these deaths involved children aged less than one year, 73% (98) of which were neonatal deaths (children aged less than 28 days). A further 51 of these deaths involved children aged 1-14 years.
• A large proportion of the total number of child deaths were attributable to natural causes while others were classified as 'external causes of morbidity and mortality' and 'symptoms and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings not elsewhere classified'.
• With regard to the category of external causes of morbidity and mortality a majority of these deaths were related to transport accidents. However it is worth noting that 6 of the 55 child deaths in this category were the result of assault. Similarly police statistics confirm that there were 6 child homicides in the year 2001/02, with 4 in the previous year and 3 in the year 1999-2000.
• In addition, 2 child deaths were classified as being caused by an event of an undetermined nature and 11 were classified as intentional self harm. Within the category of 'symptoms and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings' 2 were classified as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and 8 were classified as other ill-defined and unspecified causes of mortality.

Children, Socio-economic Wellbeing & Poverty (Department for Social Development [DSD], 2002, NISRA, 2001)

• In November 2002 there were 137,080 children who were dependents of those in receipt of a key benefit (Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support, Incapacity Benefit, Disability Living Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance).
• Almost one quarter of these children were under the age of 5, one third were aged 5-10, another third were aged 11-15 and 1 in 10 were aged 16-18 years of age. In 4% (5,580) of cases, the age of the child was unknown.
• According to the classification system used to indicate why families are claiming benefit, half were claiming benefit because of ill health or disability, 2 in 5 were claiming because of lone parent status and just under 1 in 10 were claiming because of unemployment.
• In comparison with the total population of children aged 0-18 years, the overall proportion of children in NI living in households claiming a key benefit is 29%.
• Figures for families who claim the 'out-of-work' means tested benefits of Income Support and Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based), and the 'in-work' benefits of Family Credit and Disability Working Allowance have also been used to calculate rates of children (aged 0-15 years) living in poverty at ward level. Out of 566 electoral wards in NI, 3 in 10 have 50% or more children living in poverty. According to this measure, a total of 41% of children in NI are classified as living in poverty.
• Of the 162 electoral wards with 50% or more children living in poverty, 26 had three quarters or more of the child population living in poverty, a majority of which were situated within either the Belfast or Derry Local Government District area.