CLA numbers and rates per 10,000 children aged under 18 years - by local authority
Latest data
Published
Last updated
LA data for: CLA on 31 March; CLA starting during the year; CLA ceasing during the year. Note: Figures for CLA during the year can be found in the LA dataset on children who have gone missing or who are away from placement without authorisation.
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Data set details
- Theme
- Children's social care
- Publication
- Children looked after in England including adoptions
- Release
- Reporting year 2025
- Release type
- Number of rows
- 2,505
- Geographic levels
- Local authority, National, Regional
- Indicators
- Number of children looked after
- Rate per 10,000 children aged under 18 years
- Population estimate
- Filters
- CLA population type
- Time period
- 2021 to 2025
Data set preview
| time_period | time_identifier | geographic_level | country_code | country_name | region_code | region_name | old_la_code | la_name | new_la_code | population_type | population_estimate | children_count | rate_per_10000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Reporting year | National | E92000001 | England | Children ceasing to be looked after each year | 12183016 | 34450 | 28 | |||||
| 2025 | Reporting year | National | E92000001 | England | Children looked after on 31 March each year | 12183016 | 81770 | 67 | |||||
| 2025 | Reporting year | National | E92000001 | England | Children starting to be looked after each year | 12183016 | 32270 | 26 | |||||
| 2025 | Reporting year | Regional | E92000001 | England | E12000001 | North East | Children ceasing to be looked after each year | 542710 | 2420 | 45 | |||
| 2025 | Reporting year | Regional | E92000001 | England | E12000001 | North East | Children looked after on 31 March each year | 542710 | 6040 | 111 |
Variables in this data set
| Variable name | Variable description |
|---|---|
| children_count | Number of children looked after |
| population_estimate | Population estimate |
| population_type | CLA population type |
| rate_per_10000 | Rate per 10,000 children aged under 18 years |
Footnotes
- National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Rates rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures in some tables may be suppressed, denoted by a 'c'. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements.
- Only the first occasion on which a child started to be looked after in the LA during year has been counted. The number of CLA starting will include a small amount of double counting of children and young people whose care whose care transfers between LAs. These children will be counted as starting a period of care once within each LA responsible for their care during the reporting year. Nationally, for non-UASC, this has been broadly 200 children in recent years. UASC are more likely to have responsibility for their care move between LAs, due to the National Transfer Scheme (NTS), and as the number of UASC increase the number transferring between LAs (and so the number being double counted) will increase. See the methodology document for further information.
- Only the last occasion on which a child ceased to be looked after in the LA during the year has been counted. The care of a small number of children each year is transferred between LAs, in national figures these children will be counted as ceasing once within each LA. For more information see the methodology document.
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Contact us
If you have a specific enquiry about CLA numbers and rates per 10,000 children aged under 18 years - by local authority statistics and data:
Looked-after children statistics team
Email: cla.stats@education.gov.ukContact name: Justin Ushie