BASW England Statement: Why the numbers of looked after children continues to rise

The Department for Education’s (DfE) statistics for Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) for the year ending 31 March 2015, highlight government failure to improve adoption rates. The figures show a stark 24% fall in the number of children granted an adoption placement order and states that the number of looked-after children is now 'higher than at any point since 1985’.

The overall statistics show the number of looked after children has increased steadily in England over the past seven years. There were 69,540 looked after children at 31 March 2015, an increase of 1% compared to 31 March 2014 and an increase of 6% compared to 31 March 2011.

Commenting on the data BASW England Manager Maris Stratulis stated:

“The number of children in the care system in England continues to rise. The Ofsted Annual Social Care Report highlights the incredible pressure our local authorities are under, in particular the rise in demand on local authority children’s services. This is set within a context of finite budgets, workforce challenges and the need for strong and consistent leadership.

“Furthermore, the reasons for children coming into the care system are incredibly complex; factors include:

  • inadequate resourcing and funding of early intervention and family support services,
  • high threshold triggers for children and families accessing social work support,
  • prevention and safeguarding of children,
  • unaccompanied refugee children, and
  • children who have no-one with parental responsibility

“Added to this are case law judgements and their reiteration (rightly so) that adoption should only be considered when there is no other option of alternative permanent care.

“Thus social workers continue to work within a challenging political arena and must adhere to the law. The reality is that government policy, due legal process and the best interests of the child must always be aligned, which is why BASW suggests the numbers of children being adopted has not increased.”

Click here to view the full DfE report.