Fewer children placed on child protection register
The brutal and tragic death of Dundee toddler Brandon Muir may have saved the lives of other vulnerable children in Scotland.
Brandon Muir.
- By Stefan Morkis
- Published in the Courier : 30.09.10
- Published online : 30.09.10 @ 07.17pm
Figures released on Wednesday revealed that despite a record number of referrals to child protection authorities, fewer children were put on child protection registers than the previous year.
The Scottish Government claimed greater public vigilance and awareness of child protection issues gave social workers more time to intervene in situations where children are deemed particularly at risk.
Two Scottish children — including 23-month-old Brandon Muir, who was killed by his mother's violent lover — have died after being put on the register since 2006. However, the high profile of cases such as those of Brandon and Baby P in England led to an upsurge in referrals and a Scottish Government spokeswoman admitted that earlier intervention allowed social workers to prevent "crisis situations" developing.
"There was a 6% increase in referrals but a lot of cases are where concerns have been reported as soon as possible, rather a crisis situation occur," she said. "Obviously the earlier people report concerns, the earlier support can be put in place, so it may mean a child doesn't have to go on the register."
There were 13,523 child protection referrals in Scotland in 2009/10 — up from 12,713 the year before. However, the number of registrations to the child protection register fell by 2% over the same period, from 3628 to 3551.
The fall is all the more surprising because, over the previous 12 months, the number of children being placed on the register had soared by 29%.
Children's minister Adam Ingram said, "There is no single more important thing we can all do than give our most vulnerable children the protection they need and deserve.
"Everyone has a part to play and these figures, which show a 6% increase in referrals — an increase which is in line with ongoing trends in recent years — suggest that more people are reporting their concerns, allowing support to be put in place more quickly and effectively.
"We are, meanwhile, encouraging areas to move away from a crisis management approach towards earlier and more effective collaborative intervention through our Getting it Right for Every Child approach.
"By intervening earlier to offer additional support where required we can reduce the need for more costly interventions later in a child's life. Indeed, given the unprecedented pressures on the public purse, it is more important than ever that we work together to achieve this."
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