Help for at risk kids is still our top priority Councilleader’s pledgeasvulnerableyouthsat10-yearlow
KATHRYN ANDERSON
Perth and Kinross has seen an increase in child concern reports in the last year – but the number of youngsters placed on the child protection register has fallen to its lowest level since 2013.
Officials at Wednesday’s full council meeting said the reason for the conflicting statistic and the fall in the number of children being put on the register is due to earlier intervention.
The figures were included in PKC’S chief social work officer’s annual report for 2022/23 and the Child Protection Committee’s annual Standards and Quality report for 2022/23.
Both reports went before all 40 councillors as they met on March 6. In 2022/23 PKC’S Child Protection Duty Team received 967 more Child Concern Reports – a 14 per cent increase from 2021/22.
In her annual report PKC’S former chief social work officer Jacquie Pepper said: “This is placing increasing pressure on frontline social work teams as all of these concerns are screened to ensure that those children at risk of abuse, neglect and harm receive prompt help.”
While early intervention is having a positive impact, it also means valuable resources are being used to assess concerns that may not need to escalate.
She added: “Positively, we can see from the data that there are fewer numbers of children progressing through child protection processes such as initial referral discussions, child protection investigations and child protection meetings.
“However, it does mean that valuable expertise and resource is being used to assess children whose wellbeing is giving some cause for concern and who are not likely to require ongoing social work intervention.”
On July 31, 2023 the number of youngsters placed on the child protection register had fallen from 97 in 2020 to 49 – the lowest level since 2013.
In her annual standards and quality report on the child protection committee, she explained the reason for the decrease highlighting a “shift towards much earlier intervention”.
She said: “We have concluded that there are a number of contributory factors and recent child protection practice developments which are having a bearing on this.
“This includes, improved multi-agency partnership working (in particular with the third sector), recent service redesign, a shift towards much earlier intervention, with support being provided at a much earlier stage and continued for as long as is necessary.
“We are also making increasing and effective use of multi-agency child or young person’s plans, invariably being co-ordinated by a children’s social worker (lead professional), thus reducing the need for formal multiagency child protection procedures being taken.”
Moving the annual report for the Child Protection Committee council leader Grant Laing said protecting young people was a key priority.
The SNP leader said: “Support, care and protection for vulnerable and at-risk children and young people is a key priority for this council and we set that out in our corporate plan.
“This report provides strong evidence of how seriously we take our responsibility to make sure that these essential services are delivered to the highest professional standards.
“We can see that more children are being identified when there is a concern for their wellbeing – a clear sign that GIRFEC (Getting it Right for Every Child) is the cornerstone of our multiagency practices and that vulnerable children are visible and not under the radar.
“We can also see that fewer children are requiring formal child protection interventions – a clear sign that earlier intervention and prevention through voluntary support is keeping them safe and keeping them out of the statutory system.
“However, we can never be complacent, and must continually quality assure and evaluate how well we are protecting our children and young people.”
Seconding, deputy council leader Eric Drysdale urged everyone to play their part.
He said: “It is everyone’s responsibility to protect children. If you are worried about a child or a young person, please follow your instincts and report it to PKC’S Child Protection Team at Childprotection@pkc.gov. uk or by phoning 01738 476768.
“Alternatively, please call: the police on 101 on a non-emergency or 999 in an emergency; NHS 24 on 111; Childline on 0800 1111, or Crimestoppers Scotland on 0800 555 111.”
We can never be complacent, and must continually evaluate how well we are protecting our children