Children subject to child protection plans ‘up 76% in 12 years’ 

  • The number of children on child protection plans has risen 76% in 12 years, while the number of referrals to social care has increased almost a fifth over the same period, according to research 
  • There were 51,510 children who were the subjects of child protection plans in England as of March 2020, according to figures collected by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS)
  • This is a rise of 76% from 2008-9, when ADCS started the Safeguarding Pressures project 
  • By September last year, after the coronavirus pandemic had taken hold, this had risen 4% to an estimated 53,800 children across England 
  • ADCS has collected data from local authorities for more than a decade on the provision of children’s social care and associated services, and demand 
  • For the full story, select here 
  • To learn more about our upcoming training course: Safeguarding Level 1 – Refresher, select here 

       

      Police Commissioner reveals rise in child exploitation in Northern England  

      • A Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has welcomed moves to reopen schools after revealing evidence suggesting offences against children have soared during the pandemic 
      • Ahead of many children returning to classrooms from March 8, North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan said the force and victims support services had witnessed a significant increase in demand over the last year
      • Mrs Mulligan told a meeting of the county’s Police, Fire and Crime Panel, that referrals to the charity – ‘Parents Against Child Exploitation’, had soared by 150 per cent 
      • This charity supports parents of children who had been subject to sexual and/or criminal exploitation 
      • The charity says the pandemic has seen a shift in the way children are targeted, with some youngsters encouraged to dress up as joggers to deliver packages, while others are being targeted on social media apps instead of parks 
      • For the full story, select here 
      • To learn more about County Lines, register for our upcoming training course: ‘An Introduction to County Lines’ here 

        UK Watchdog warns that Facebook and Google are ‘too powerful’  

            • Tech giants Google and Facebook have too great a share of the UK online advertising market, the boss of the UK’s competition watchdog has said 
            • The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) would like regulatory changes to deal with that market dominance, its boss Andrea Coscelli told the BBC 
            • Google and Facebook have faced criticism from competition and other regulators in the past
            • Facebook said it faces “significant competition” online from rival firms 
            • For the full story, select here 

                 

                UK Government to suggest summer schools to help children catch up 

                • Secondary schools in England will be asked to consider delivering face-to-face summer schools as part of efforts to help pupils catch up 
                • An extra £420m in funding has been announced, along with £300m announced for catch-up projects in January 
                • Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the money will help ensure “no child is left behind” due to the pandemic 
                • Teachers, experts and unions called the money a “good start” – but warned about overwhelming pupils
                • For the full story, select here 

                   

                       

                      Met Police hails successes in county lines arrests 

                        • A fresh crackdown on county lines drug dealing has resulted in police in London bringing 1,000 charges in just over a year, the Metropolitan Police has said
                        • The successes were the result of new tactics and the coronavirus lockdown prompting criminals to switch to riskier tactics because child drug runners travelling from the capital could no longer blend into the crowd on busy trains and coaches 
                        • County lines is a model of distributing drugs from bigger cities to smaller towns and rural areas 
                        • Users call an anonymous pay-as-you-go mobile phone (deal line) and order their drugs. Drug dealers often believe this method protects them from detection 
                        • For the full story, select here 
                        • Register for our upcoming training: ‘an Introduction to County Lines’ here