By James Rougvie

SCOTS PARENTS are abusing their children in greater numbers than ever before, according to a new report published yesterday by the Scottish Children’s Reporter.

Out of a total of almost 54,000 referred to the Children’s Panels, more than 40,000 were in need of care and protection, victims of cruelty, sexual offences, injury, domestic abuse and neglect.

Almost 12,000 of the most vulnerable children, from babies to the age of four, were deemed to be in need of care and protection.

In Dundee alone almost 1500 children were referred for offending, with almost exactly the same number requiring protection.

However, that figure has gone down from last year, as it has in neighbouring Perth and Kinross—thanks, says Barnardo’s, to a domestic abuse initiative in Tayside which could be a model for the rest of the country.

The number of children between eight and 15 referred to their local Children’s Panel in Scotland has doubled in the last decade and, for the first time, the number of children reported as being in need of parental care is greater than those accused of offences.

Over the past decade, the number of youngsters up to the age of four in need of care and protection has rocketed from just under 3000 to almost 12,000.

Almost 23,000 referred to the panel were being brought up by mothers with only one child, while almost half of the children referred lived in a single-parent household.

The picture across Tayside showed striking differences.

In Angus and Perth and Kinross, the numbers referred to the reporter on care and protection grounds were significantly lower than the national average.

In Dundee 1437 children were referred, down from 1556 last year. Of 778 referred for offending, 80 were classed as persistent.

In Angus 533 children were referred (438), in Perth 588 (776), and Fife 2456 (2478). Scotland-wide the proportion of girls, 35% 10 years ago, is now 42%.

Douglas Bulloch, chairman of the Scottish Children’s Reporter Admini- stration, said, “These figures need to concern us all.”

Barnardo’s Scotland director Hugh Mackintosh said Barnardo’s Tayside Domestic Abuse Initiative involved close work with police and social workers.

“This model may provide valuable information as to how to tackle some of the very serious issues thrown up by the report.”