Children in need of help and protection (health and wellbeing needs in South Tyneside)

Level of need

In South Tyneside, we look at the local picture for Children in Need in comparison with the national and regional picture, and by comparison with our statistical neighbours which are Local authorities with similar characteristics to our own. Figures are shown as numbers and also rate per 10,000 children aged 18 and under. Our current statistical neighbours are:(NE) Gateshead, Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland, Sunderland, (NW) Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Salford, St. Helens, Tameside.

Children in Need are all those children who South Tyneside's Children and Families Social Care Service are supporting.

Referrals

  • Between the 1 April 2015 and the 31 March 2016, 1937 Children in Need referrals were made to Children's Social Care, which remains higher than our statistical neighbours, North East and national rates.
  • See Figure 1 and Table 1 in the associated slide pack.

Children in Need

The number of children in need (CIN) decreased 2015 / 16 from 1495 at the beginning of the year to 1367 at the end of the year, as shown in the graphs below (this includes all children who are CIN, CP and LAC).

  • See Figure 2 and Figure 3 in the associated slide pack
  • It is of note that there was a fairly high level of churn with 3007 children having CIN status during the course of 2015 / 16.

Children in Need: Age

The largest age group of children in need are 10 - 15 year olds, accounting for 29% of children, followed by 5 - 9 year olds (24%), 1 - 5 year olds (20%) and 16+ year old (18%). Children under 1 year olds and unborn children are the smallest group accounted for 9% of children in need in 2015/16.

Children in Need: Ethnicity

The largest ethnic group for children in need is White British (85%). There are 7% of children in need were the ethnicity is unknown (i.e. unborn  / refused / not obtained).

Children in Need: Disability

The percentage of children in need with a disability in South Tyneside is 14.4%, which is higher than that of the national and North East percentages (both 12.7%) in 2015 / 16.

Children subject to a Child Protection Plan:

The number and rate of children subject to a child protection plan (CPP) decreased in 2015 / 16 from 195 at the beginning of the year to 182 at the end of the year, as shown in the graphs below. The rate (62.3 per 10,000) is significantly higher than the national rate but a little lower than statistical neighbours.

More children ceased to be subject to a CP plan than started in 2015 / 16 and the number of CP plans started reduced by 8% as compared with in 2014 / 15.

15.2% of children becoming subject to a plan in 2015 / 16, had a previous CP Plan, this is an increase from 10.6% in 2014 / 15, although this proportion is in line with national rate (16.6%) and the statistical neighbours (15.9%). Good performance is generally considered to be between 10-15%.

Categories of Abuse

Neglect remains the largest category of abuse in South Tyneside and is higher than among comparators, as demonstrated below.

Education, Health and Care Plan (SEN)

South Tyneside Council have a Special Educational Needs (SEN) Team offering a service to children who

  • Have a statement of special educational needs under the provisions of the Education Act 1996; OR
  • an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan under the Children and Families Act 2014.

In January 2016, there were 185 Children and Young People in with statements of special needs, and 694 children with EHC Plans. Further information about the cohort is available in the JSNAA topic "Special Educational Needs".

Looked After Children

  • At the end of March 2016, South Tyneside Council looked after 289 children and Young People. Further information is available in the JSNAA topic "Looked After Children".
  • Information about South Tyneside's Children in Need is available using the Local authority interactive tool (LAIT) at GOV.UK.
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