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Our Children (Looked After) / Children in Need

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Introduction

In Blackpool it is our belief that children are best supported to grow and achieve within their own families. But despite everyone’s best efforts to support families, in exceptional circumstances there are a small number of children for whom it is not in their best interests to be cared for by their immediate family (Looked After) or where their experience of parenting means that they are unlikely to thrive, flourish and be healthy (Child in Need).

'Looked After Children' are children and young people for whom the Local Authority becomes their Corporate Parent. This means that the Local Authority is responsible for finding them a safe and stable home. Where it is in the best interests of the child this could be a short term arrangement whilst the family is supported so that children can safely return home; or this can lead to the children and young people being in our care for the longer term. 'Looked After' is a term introduced in the Children's Act 1989 and many legal aspects have been amended or updated in the Children and Families Act 2015.

In Blackpool we do not refer to Looked After Children. In consultation with children and young people as part of our co-production work, the term we use to describe these arrangements is ‘Our Children’. This reflects a parenting approach founded on relationship based social work practice and partnership working with our young people and their carers.

A Child in Need (CIN) is defined under the Children Act 1989 as a child who is unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or their health or development will be significantly impaired, without the provision of services, or the child is disabled.

Facts and Figures

Our Children

Looked After Children in Blackpool 2021/221:

    • At March 31st 2022 Blackpool Council was the Corporate Parent for 609 children and young people, similar to the previous year, but still reflecting an generally upward trend over the past nine years (Figure 1).
    • Blackpool has rate of 218 per 10,000 children in the Local Authority's care, more than three times the national average of 70 per 10,000
    • Blackpool has the highest rate of children in their care in England, followed by North East Lincolnshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Middlesbrough.
    • Our Children in Blackpool are significantly more likely to be up to date with their immunisations compared to national levels.

Our children figures fluctuate throughout the year as new children become Our children and current children are placed within a permanent arrangement, whether this be with friends or family, being returned home or through adoption. During 2021/22:

    • 178 children became Our Children
    • 183 exited the care of the Local Authority

Figure 1: Trend in the number of Our Children in Blackpool

 Line chart with 2022 LAC trend shows increasing numbers of Our Children between 2014 and 2020.
Source: Department for Education, Children looked after in England including adoption: 2021 to 2022 (and historical trends from 2016 & 2013)

Figure 2: Trend in the rate of Our Children / Looked After Children, England, North West and Blackpool

 Line chart with Blackpool Our Children rate shows increasing trend from 2011, higher than and with steeper increases than national rate.
Source: Department for Education, Children looked after in England including adoption: 2021 to 2022 (and historical trends from 2016 & 2013)

Figure 2 shows the trend in the rate of Our Children in Blackpool compared to the North West and England. The chart highlights that Blackpool has significantly higher rates of children in its care relative to the national and regional average. Blackpool also has the highest rate of children in its care compared to all local authorities in England. The majority of authorities with significantly high rates are urban and there is a moderate relationship between the level of deprivation in an area and the corresponding rate of children who are in the care of the local authority.

The demographic profile of Our Children in Blackpool at March 2022 shows:

    • We are corporate parents for slightly more males (54%) than females (46%) - similar to regional and national proportions
    • The majority are of white ethnicity (91%) and 4% are of mixed or multiple ethnicities.
    • Children aged between 10 and 15 years represent the largest group of Our Children (38%) in Blackpool, as in the country nationally (39%) (Figure 3).
    • In Blackpool, children under five years old make up a significantly higher proportion of Our children than the national average: 26% compared to 19% nationally.
    • The rate of Our Children aged under 5 is over 3 times higher than the national average, and for those under the age of one year the rate is over four times higher (Figure 4).

Figure 3: Age profile of Our Children - Proportion of children looked after by age group, 2022

Bar chart shows that the majority of looked after children are aged 5 to 15, but Blackpool has higher proportions of under 5s than England and North West.
Source: Department for Education, Children looked after in England including adoption: 2021 to 2022

Figure 4: Our Children by age group - rate per 10,000 children, 2022

 Bar chart showing that 2022 looked after children rates for Blackpool are considerably higher than national rates.
 Source: Department for Education, Children looked after in England including adoption: 2021 to 2022

Reasons for Care

For new children starting to be looked after in 2021/221:

    • Abuse and neglect was the largest initial reason for becoming Our Children, 89% of all cases. This is a higher proportion than in recent years (84% in 2021, 79% in 2020). Nationally, 58% of children entered Local Authority care due to abuse or neglect.

Home Type

In terms of where Our Children are placed, Blackpool shows no substantial differences from the England profile. The largest numbers of homes for Our Children are in foster families, with a remainder placed in children's residential homes and semi-independent living (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Placement of Our Children, Blackpool and England, March 2022
   Blackpool (No.)  Blackpool (%) England (%) 
 Foster placements  401  66%  70%
 Placed for adoption 31  5%  3%
 Placement with parents or others with parental responsibility 63 10%  7%
 Other placement in the community  10 2%   2%
Secure units, children's homes or semi-independent living  98  16%  16%
Other residential setting   <5 --  1%
Other placements <5 -- 1%
Residential schools 0  --  --
Source: Department for Education, Children looked after in England including adoption: 2021 to 2022

Children Who Leave Our Care Through Adoption or Other Routes

In Blackpool, 183 of Our Children ceased to be in our care during the 2021/22 period. 34% of children became subject to a Special Guardianship Order, which confers parental responsibilities to a guardian but does not change the legal relationship of birth parents with their children. The proportion of Special Guardianship Orders issued in Blackpool is significantly higher than the national level of 13%.

18% of children moved into independent living (10% indepedent living with no formalised support and 8% with formalised support), 17% returned home to live with parents or relatives with parental responsibility, and 9% were adopted (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Destinations of those ceasing to be Our Children, 2021/22
   Blackpool (No.) Blackpool (%)  England (%) 
Returned home to live with parents or relatives with parental responsibility 29 16%  22% 
 Adopted  16 9%  10% 
 Special Guardianship Orders  63 34%  13% 
 Residence order granted 14 8% 4% 
 Moved into independent living (with supportive accommodation)  15 8%  12% 
 Moved into independent living (with no formalised support) 18 10%  3% 
 Sentenced to custody  0 0%  1% 
Left care to live wih parents, relatives or other people with no parental responsibility - - 6%
Aged 18+ and remained with current carer 16 9% 13%
Care ceased for any other reason   8 4%  11% 
Source: Department for Education, Children looked after in England including adoption: 2021 to 2022

Adoption is a sensitive area and in Blackpool performance is measured over a number of indicators. 9% of those ceasing care were adopted in 2021/22, similar to the the national average of 10%, though lower than in previous years (Figure 8). Recent reductions in both the number and proportion of those adopted may be due to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. causing delays in family court proceedings)2

Figure 8: Adoptions 2013/14 to 2021/22
 2014/15 2015/162016/17 2017/182018/192019/202020/212021/22
 Blackpool (No.) 50 46  41  36 30 35  31  16
 Blackpool (%) 27% 21% 19%  17% 18% 22%  14%  9%
 England (%)  17% 15%  14% 13% 12% 12%  10%  10%
Source: Department for Education, Children looked after in England including adoption: 2021 to 2022 (and historical trends from 2017 to 2018 data)

Outcomes for Our Children

'Attainment 8' measures the average achievement of pupils in up to eight qualifications at the Key Stage 4 educational level, with points allocated according to the grades pupils achieve in subjects (English and Maths are double-weighted to signify their importance). A higher overall average score indicates higher educational attainment.

Results for 2019/20 include grades awarded to students when exams were cancelled due to COVID-19, and are not comparable with previous years.

The Attainment 8 score for Our Children in Blackpool is lower than both the North West and England average score (Figure 9). This average score is the 20th lowest in the country among local authorities. However, with the exception of 2017/18 and the current year, Blackpool has been in the bottom 10 local authorities for this measure.  It should also be noted that Blackpool's Attainment 8 score for all pupils is among the lowest in the country (37.9 compared to 48.8 across England in 2021/22)3.

Figure 9: Average Attainment 8 Score for Our Children / Looked After Children, Academic Years 2016/17 to 2020/21

 Bar chart of Attainment 8 trends shows Blackpool has significantly lower average attainment 8 scores than England or North West.
 Source: Department for Education, Outcomes for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities in England, Reporting Year 2021

Figure 10 shows the number of school-aged children who had been continuously in care for at least 12 months by Special Educational Need (SEN) and the number of school exclusions in the care population.

Figure 10: Special Educational Needs and school exclusions of Our Children / Looked After Children, 2018/19 and 2020/21
   Blackpool (No.)Blackpool (%) North West (%) England (%) 
 Special Educational Needs (SEN)-2020/21    
Number of school-aged children who had been continuously in care for at least 12 months   334      
Number of Our Children / Looked After Children with the following provision for SEN:   No SEN   159  47.6%  48%  43.8%
SEN Support  99  29.6%  27.3%  27.4%
SEN with a statement or education, health and care plan (EHCP)  76  22.8%  24.7%  28.9%
Total with SEN    175  52.4%  52%  56.2%
 Exclusions from school-2019/20
Our Children / Looked After Children with at least one fixed period exclusion   21 6.93%   8.6%  9.4%
Source: Department for Education, Outcomes for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities in England, Reporting Year 2021

Transition from local authority care - Care Leavers / Care Experienced

A care leaver or 'care experienced' person is someone aged between 16 and 25 who has been looked after for at least 13 weeks and are / were in care on or after their 16th birthday.

In 2021/221:

    • 63 (100%) of 17 to 18 year old care leavers were in touch with the local authority (compared to 94% nationally)
    • 146 (100%) of the 19, 20 and 21 year old care leavers in Blackpool were in touch with the local authority (compared to 92% nationally)
    • The local authority has been in touch with 99-100% of care leavers each year since 2019
    • 98% of 17 to 18 year old and 95% of 19 to 21 year old care leavers were in accommodation considered suitable (compared to national levels of 93% for 17 to 18 year olds and 91% for 19 to 21 year olds)
    • 21% of 17 to 18 year old care leavers were living in semi-independent transitional accommodation, 19% in independent living, 16% were living with parents or relatives, 16% with former foster parents, 11% in a community home, and 14% in other accommodation
    • 51% of 19 to 21 year olds were in independent living, 15% living with parents or relatives, and 10% with former foster parents. The proportion recorded as in independent living is significantly higher than the national level (36%).
    • 57% of Blackpool care leavers aged 17 to 18 were in education, employment or training, compared to 66% across England. 32% were in education and 21% were in training or employment.
    • NEET levels for 17 and 18 year old care leavers fluctuated between 2017/18 and 2021/22, from 56% in 2018, 41% in 2018/19, 55% in 2020, 44% in 2021 and the current proportion of 43%. Factors affecting this may include changes to the age of compulsory education (with those remaining in education rising from 19% in 2017/18 to 42% in 2021) and the impact of COVID-19.
    • 52% of Blackpool care leavers aged 19 to 21 were in education, employment or training (compared to 55% nationally). 29% were in training or employment and 16% were in education other than higher education. Of the 48% who were NEET, for 17% this was owing to illness or disability, 14% pregnancy or parenting, and 69% other reasons.
    • The proportion of care leavers aged 19 to 21 years who were NEET (48%) is at its lowest level since at least 2017/18, a reduction from the high of 57% in 2019/20 (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Proportion of care leavers (age 19 to 21 years) who are 'IN' and 'NOT IN' education, employment or training, Blackpool and England.

 Bar chart with trend data shows higher percentages of young people NEET in Blackpool than nationally, though England has higher levels of unknowns that might affect this.
Source: Department for Education, Children looked after in England including adoption: 2020 to 2021. Chart does not include unknown EET circumstances (0-1% for Blackpool and 7-9% for England over last three years)

Children in Need

Children in Need (CiN) are a group supported by social care who have a safeguarding and welfare need including:

  • children on children in need plans
  • children on child protection plans
  • looked after children
  • disabled children

The number of CiN changes frequently throughout the year. New children become in need and current children cease to be in need. A child begins an 'episode of need' when they are referred to children's social care services. Each child in need can have multiple episodes of need within a year.

In Blackpool during 2021/224:

    • 3,401 children aged under 18 years had an episode of need at some point throughout the 12 month period. This is lower than the peak of 4,229 in 2016/17.
    • The rate of children with an episode of need at any point in the year was 1,168.3 per 10,000 children. This is double the national rate of 587.7 per 10,000 children (Figure 12).
    • At 31st March 2022 there were 2,040 children in need at a rate of 700.8 per 10,000 children. This is also over twice the national rate (334.3 per 10,000).
    • Blackpool has the third highest rate of Children in Need in the country (on the basis of 31st March measure).
    • 1,695 children started an episode of need in the year (Figure 13).
    • 1,544 ended an episode of need in the year.
    • The total number of recorded episodes of need was 3,737.

Figure 12: Trend in the rate of children in need, England, North West and Blackpool (At any point in year and at 31st March)

Line charts showing In year and 31st March census rate trends of children in need in Blackpool are significantly higher than national and regional rates.
 Source: Department for Education, Characteristics of children in need, Reporting Year 2022

Figure 13: Trend in the number of children in need in Blackpool

 Line charts of Blackpool Children in Need trends since 2012/13 show slightly more children start an episode of need than end one each year, reflected in the generally increasing numbers of children in need at the March census point.
Source: Department for Education, Characteristics of children in need, Reporting Year 2022. Numbers are based on counts of children (episodes may exceed this since individuals may have multiple episodes in a year)

Concerns about maltreatment may be the reason for a referral to local authority children’s social care or concerns may arise during the course of providing services to the child and family. In these circumstances, local authority children’s social care must initiate enquiries to find out what is happening to the child and whether protective action is required.

A referral is defined as a request for services to be provided by children's social care and is in respect of a child who is not currently 'in need'. A referral may result in: an assessment of the child's need; the provision of information or advice; referral to another agency; or no further action.

Figure 14 compares referral, assessment and child protection plan rates in Blackpool with the North West and England. 3,122 Children in Need referrals were made in 2021/22 (a rate of 1072.5 per 10,000) compared to 2,739 in 2020/21 (940.9 per 10,000) and 3,819 (1,307.2 per 10,000) in 2019/20. Across Blackpool there were no referrals that resulted in 'no further action' and 28.8% of referrals were within 12 months of a previous referral (compared to 21.5% nationally). 3,789 assessments were completed in 2021/22 (3,414 in 2020/21). This is approximately double the number of assessments conducted in 2014/15 and 2015/16 and the rate of 1,301.6 assessments per 10,000 children is over twice the national average3.

Figure 14: Children in need - referrals and assessments 2021/22
  Blackpool   North West England
   NumberRate/10,000  Rate/10,000Rate/10,000 
Number of referrals during the year 3,122  1072.5  548.1 537.7
Assessments completed by children's social care services  3,789 1301.6 594.4 533.4
Episodes with assessment factor information*  3,211  -- --  -- 
Children who were subject to:-  section 47 enquiries** 920 316 160.1 156.6
an initial stage child protection conference 406  139.5 65.3  60.2
Children on child protection plans (any time in year)  729
 250.4 104.5 93
Children who were the subject of a child protection plan as at 31 March 296  101.7  48.5  42.1
*assessment factors at end of assessment - excludes those episodes where no factors were identified, ** section 47 refers to enquiries conducted under the provisions of section 47 of the Children Act 1989 
Source: Department for Education, Characteristics of children in need, Reporting Year 2021

Abuse or neglect was the most common primary need at initial assessment for a child in need. In 2021/22, 71.1% of children had abuse or neglect as their primary need identified at assessment (compared to 57.1% nationally), followed by family being in acute stress (4.3%) and child's disability or illness (4.1%). 12.5% did not have a primary need stated.

Across Blackpool there were 3,211 assessments where factors could be identified at the end of assessment. Mental health of the parent (47.2% of assessments where a factor was recorded, compared to 31.6% nationally) and domestic violence where the parent was the victim (41.9% compared to 31.6% nationally) were the most common factors identified at the end of assessment, followed by neglect (23.8% compared to 16.3% nationally) and emotional abuse (22.1 compared to 20.2% nationally) (Figure 15). Domestic abuse where the child or another person was the victim, mental health of the child or other, and alcohol and drug misuse were also common factors.

Figure 15: Percentage of children in need by factors identified at the end of assessment, Blackpool, 2021/22

 Bar chart of 2022 factors identified at end of children in need assessment in Blackpool shows mental health of parent (47.2%) and domestic abuse where parent is victim (41.9%) are highest factors, followed by neglect (23.8%), and emotional abuse (22.1%).
Source: Department for Education, Characteristics of children in need, Reporting Year 2022. Multiple factors can be recorded.

Child Protection Plans

Local authorities, with the help of other organisations as appropriate, have a duty to make enquiries under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 if they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm, to enable them to decide whether they should take any action to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare. There may be a need for immediate protection whilst the assessment is carried out.

At the initial child protection conference the decision is made as to whether the child needs to become the subject of a child protection plan. When a child becomes the subject of a plan, the initial category of abuse is recorded. Plans are then reviewed on a regular basis and a child should no longer be the subject of a plan if it is judged they are no longer at risk or harm.

    • During 2021/22, 920 children in Blackpool were the subject of section 47 enquiries, compared to 1,160 in 2019/20 and 869 in Covid-19 affected 2020/21. The 2021/22 Blackpool rate of 316 per 10,000 children is double the national average (156.6 per 10,000).
    • At 31st March 2022 there were 296 children with Child Protection Plans (CPPs) in Blackpool at a rate of 101.7 per 10,000 population. This is the second highest rate in the country and over twice the national average (42.1 per 10,000)4.

The number of enquiries conducted under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 and the number of initial stage child protection conferences was lower in both 2020/21 and 2021/22 than previous years. This trend was also seen regionally and nationally for 2020/21, possibly reflecting the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on referrals and risk thresholds for enquiries, though nationally the rate of Section 47 enquiries in 2021/22 increased to its highest level since at least 2013.

Figure 16 shows the proportion of children on a child protection plan by initial and latest category of abuse. As with the national picture, neglect and emotional abuse are the main categories of abuse for children with CPPs, though the proportion reported to be experiencing neglect is higher in Blackpool.

Figure 16: The proportion of children on a child protection plan at 31st March 2022 by initial and latest category of abuse, Blackpool and England

 Bar chart shows that neglect at initial assessment in Blackpool (68%) is higher than national level (48%), with emotional abuse lower, though at latest assessment these values are closer to national levels, with neglect reducing to 48% (England 47%).
Source: Department for Education, Characteristics of children in need, Reporting Year 2022.

National and local strategies

In February 2023 the UK Government released Stable Homes, Built on Love: Implementation Strategy and Consultation, outlining children's social care reforms. These reforms focus on a series of key pillars, including providing the right support at the right time (including early help); a decisive multi-agency child protection system; unlocking the potential of family networks; putting love, relationships and a stable home at the heart of being a child in care; valued and skilled social workers for every child who needs one; and a system that learns and improves.

Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children covers the legislative framework placed on services and sets out frameworks for inter-agency cooperation in order to safeguard children and young people. The 2018 document replaces previous 2015 guidance.

Promoting the health and well-being of looked-after children.  Statutory guidance for local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and NHS England (Department of Health & Department of Education, 2015)

The Sufficiency Statement for Children's Services 2018-2021 sets out how Blackpool Council intends to meet the Sufficiency Duty. It also emphasises the Council’s commitment to children and young people who are in the care of the local authority or on the edge of care to ensure that their life chances and outcomes are improved.

Blackpool Council's Permanence Strategy, entitled 'Long Term Fostering for our Children and Young People in Blackpool' (May, 2021), sets out how we intend to secure permanent loving homes for Our Children.

Blackpool Partnership Child in Need Procedure sets out practice standards designed to improve the quality of our partnership practice, ensure families receive a consistent approach and children are supported to be safe, achieve positive permanent outcomes at the earliest opportunity, and prevent their needs from requiring other Children’s Services statutory involvement.

Recommendations

The main points from the Promoting the health and well-being of looked-after children guidance are:

    • The corporate parenting responsibilities of local authorities include having a duty under section 22(3)(a) of the Children Act 1989 to safeguard and promote the welfare of the children they care for, including eligible children and those placed for adoption, regardless of whether they are placed in or out of authority or the type of home. This includes the promotion of the child’s physical, emotional and mental health and acting on any early signs of health issues.
    • The local authority that looks after the child or young person must arrange for them to have a health assessment as required by The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010.
    • The initial health assessment must be done by a registered medical practitioner. Review health assessments may be carried out by a registered nurse or registered midwife.
    • The local authority that cares for the child must ensure that every child has an up-to-date individual health plan, the development of which should be based on the written report of the health assessment. The health plan forms part of the child’s overall care plan.
    • When a child or young person becomes one of Our Children, changes home or ceases to be looked after, the responsible local authority should notify, among others, the CCG – or, in the case of a placement out of authority, both the originating and the receiving CCG (or local health board in the case of a child looked after by a local authority in England but living in Wales) – and the child’s GP. If the child is moved in an emergency, the notifications should happen within five working days. Prompt notifications are essential if initial health assessments are to be completed in good time.
    • Our Children should never be refused a service, including for mental health, on the grounds of their placement being short-term or unplanned.
    • CCGs and NHS England have a duty to cooperate with requests from local authorities to undertake health assessments and help them ensure support and services to Our Children are provided without undue delay.
    • Local authorities, CCGs, NHS England and Public Health England must cooperate to commission health services for all children in their area.
    • The health needs of Our Children should be taken into account in developing the local Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JHWS).
    • Every local authority should have agreed local mechanisms with CCGs to ensure that they comply with NHS England’s guidance on establishing the responsible commissioner in relation to secondary health care when making placement decisions for Our Children and to resolve any funding issues that arise.
    • If a our child or a child leaving care moves out of the CCG area, arrangements should be made through discussion between the “originating CCG”, those currently providing the child’s healthcare and the new providers to ensure continuity of healthcare. CCGs should ensure that any changes in healthcare providers do not disrupt the objective of providing high quality, timely care for Our children.
    • Local authorities, CCGs and NHS England should ensure that plans are in place to enable children leaving care to continue to obtain the healthcare they need.
    • Our Children should be able to participate in decisions about their health care. Arrangements should be in place to promote a culture:
      • where Our Childen and Young People are listened to
      • that takes account of their views according to their age and understanding, in identifying and meeting their physical, emotional and mental health needs
      • that helps others, including carers and schools, to understand the importance of listening to and taking account of a child and young person's wishes and feelings about how to be healthy.

[1]  Department for Education, Children looked after in England including adoption: 2021 to 2022

[2] Community Care, Children adopted from care falls to lowest in 21 years, government figures show. November 22, 2021 [accessed 30 March 2022]

[3] Department for Education, Outcomes for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities in England, Reporting Year 2021

[4] Department for Education, Characteristics of children in need, Reporting Year 2022