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Annual Report Published
Thursday 27 October
The Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration’s (SCRA’s) Annual Report 2010/11 reveals that the number of children and young people being referred to the Reporter fell for the fourth consecutive year.
SCRA’s Annual Report 2010/11, which is published today, follows on from the Official Statistics published in June. The Annual Report includes a detailed statistical analysis of the year.
The number of children and young people referred in 2010/11 was 39,217 compared to 42,532 in 2009/10 – a reduction of 7.8%. Despite this reduction, this is still 4.3% of the Scottish child population.
The vast majority of children and young people continue to be referred to the Reporter because of concerns about their welfare. In 2010/11, 33,710 children were referred on care and protection grounds, while 8,126 were referred on offence grounds (these figures include 2,619 children who were referred on both grounds).
The two most common grounds for referral continued to be that the child was a ‘victim of a Schedule 1 offence’ (16,847 children) and lack of parental care (13,006 children).
More than 13,000 children and young people are on compulsory supervision with 13,474 Supervision Requirements in place in 2010/11.
Neil Hunter, SCRA’s Principal Reporter/Chief Executive, said: “There continues to be a significant number of children and young people who require compulsory measures of intervention in their lives - this equates to 1.5% of all children in Scotland.
“There is also a concern about the length of time children and young people are on supervision. Our figures show that significant numbers of children and young people remain on supervision for more than five years. Supervision should be a short to medium term measure to improve a child’s situation, not a long term solution where they require compulsory intervention for several years. Therefore, this is an issue which we have started to explore with our partners in the Hearings System.”
As previously highlighted in our Official Statistics, there continues to be significant numbers of younger children coming to the attention of the Reporter.
SCRA’s Chair Carole Wilkinson, said: “Over the last few years we have seen proportional increases in the number of very young children referred to the Reporter, mainly due to lack of parental care or because they are the victims of offences.
“A total of 4,839 children aged under two years were referred in 2010/11, this amounts to 12.4% of all the children referred in the year. In addition, the number of children with Child Protection Orders (CPOs) increased for a third year to 678 in 2010/11, compared to 665 in 2009/10. “
SCRA’s Annual Report 2010/11, which is published today, follows on from the Official Statistics published in June. The Annual Report includes a detailed statistical analysis of the year.
The number of children and young people referred in 2010/11 was 39,217 compared to 42,532 in 2009/10 – a reduction of 7.8%. Despite this reduction, this is still 4.3% of the Scottish child population.
The vast majority of children and young people continue to be referred to the Reporter because of concerns about their welfare. In 2010/11, 33,710 children were referred on care and protection grounds, while 8,126 were referred on offence grounds (these figures include 2,619 children who were referred on both grounds).
The two most common grounds for referral continued to be that the child was a ‘victim of a Schedule 1 offence’ (16,847 children) and lack of parental care (13,006 children).
More than 13,000 children and young people are on compulsory supervision with 13,474 Supervision Requirements in place in 2010/11.
Neil Hunter, SCRA’s Principal Reporter/Chief Executive, said: “There continues to be a significant number of children and young people who require compulsory measures of intervention in their lives - this equates to 1.5% of all children in Scotland.
“There is also a concern about the length of time children and young people are on supervision. Our figures show that significant numbers of children and young people remain on supervision for more than five years. Supervision should be a short to medium term measure to improve a child’s situation, not a long term solution where they require compulsory intervention for several years. Therefore, this is an issue which we have started to explore with our partners in the Hearings System.”
As previously highlighted in our Official Statistics, there continues to be significant numbers of younger children coming to the attention of the Reporter.
SCRA’s Chair Carole Wilkinson, said: “Over the last few years we have seen proportional increases in the number of very young children referred to the Reporter, mainly due to lack of parental care or because they are the victims of offences.
“A total of 4,839 children aged under two years were referred in 2010/11, this amounts to 12.4% of all the children referred in the year. In addition, the number of children with Child Protection Orders (CPOs) increased for a third year to 678 in 2010/11, compared to 665 in 2009/10. “
To view our Annual Report ebook, simply click on the link above. To turn the pages you can either click on the page numbers at the bottom right corner of the report or use the arrow buttons at the bottom of each page. You can also zoom in and out of the report - simply click on the icon on the top right hand corner of the screen, using the + and – buttons.
A printable version of the Annual Report 2010/11 is available below.
